20 Everyday Rules From the 1960s That Would Shock People Today

Life in the 1960s was governed by a lot of common practices that would now cause a lot of surprise. Children were encouraged to play outside without adult supervision, schools had a strict policy in place, and the workplace had a strict hierarchy in place. Smoke was a common feature in hospitals, airplanes, and restaurants, and the safety regulations in place were not as stringent as they are now. Women were also restricted in their financial freedom, and employment ads were openly biased towards gender. Some places also had a policy of segregation in public spaces, but this was about to change with the civil rights movement and the changing cultural scenario.

1. Children Were Expected to Stay Outside All Day

Back in the 1960s, kids disappeared from their houses at dawn and roamed the neighborhood until dusk with little or no adult supervision. They thought they’d find things to keep themselves busy until time for supper, and the day belonged to them. There were bikes, tree climbing, and exploring empty lots in the neighborhood. Many communities had no organized events or adult supervision, so kids grew up with freedom and learned to stand on their own two feet early in life. A kid might roam several blocks to a friend’s house without so much as a heads-up. Some kids spent hours in the nearby woods, alongside a bubbling creek, or in empty lots of construction sites.

2. Teachers Had Authority to Punish Students Physically

In the 1960s, many schools still gave teachers the legal right to discipline their students physically. This included the use of wooden paddles, rulers, and even chalkboard pointers. When the student talked too much in class or did not follow the teacher’s instructions, the teacher would send the child to stand in front of the classroom. Some schools would even make the students hold their hands out to be slapped sharply with a ruler. Others would use the paddle in the principal’s office. The parents would support the teachers in disciplining the children, and the children would rarely complain about the discipline. Discipline was necessary in the classroom because of the large number of students.

3. Dress Codes Controlled What People Wore in Public

In the 1960s, social rules governed how people dressed in their daily lives. Restaurants would even go so far as to refuse entry to people in casual wear. Schools had rules for boys to wear shirts with collars and for girls to wear skirts of certain lengths and to wear their hair in certain styles. In the workplace, the norm was to wear business attire, meaning men wore suits and ties most days of the week. Even flying on an airplane was a formal event. Dressing was about being respectable and having good manners, which went beyond the workplace and schools into places like the theater, church, and department stores, where rules could be enforced.

4. Smoking Was Allowed Almost Everywhere

and even hospitals tolerated it. Cigarettes were featured prominently in television commercials and magazine ads. Ashtrays sat on restaurant tables alongside salt and pepper shakers. Glass ashtrays adorned office desks, and smokers lit up in meetings. Many teachers smoked in the teacher’s lounge between classes. Thick curtains of smoke often filled long-haul airplanes. Doctors also smoked, occasionally, still in their whites, still on the job. The smell of tobacco permeated elevators, buses, and hotel lobbies. Smoking had become an integral part of society, with little or no concern being shown for it.

5. Many Public Spaces Remained Segregated by Race

In the early 1960s, some regions of the United States still practiced segregation, and it had become part of everyday life. Restaurants, buses, schools, and other places segregated people of different races. Signs such as “White Only” or “Colored” were common at drinking fountains, waiting rooms, and restroom doors. Black families encountered difficulties when trying to make a hotel room reservation or eat at a restaurant. Segregation also existed in schools, and some schools were segregated by race, as were some public pools and movie theaters. Segregation had been practiced as a result of the Jim Crow laws, and many of them had lengthy histories. Segregation had been a part of everyday life for many people.

6. Cars Rarely Required Seatbelts for Passengers

It wasn’t until the early 1960s that seatbelts weren’t necessarily standard equipment in all vehicles, with many having none or making them an afterthought. Automakers were more concerned with how their vehicles looked and how fast they went, and the roads were filled with massive, heavy, and dangerous steel behemoths. Children were packed into the back seats with no consideration for safety. They stood up or leaned forward toward the front seat. On long trips, people slept on the back bench or rode on the rear shelf of the vehicle. The majority of parents saw no harm in this practice. Vehicle safety standards were rather lax in those years.

7. Many Towns Enforced Strict Curfews for Teenagers

It wasn’t until the early 1960s that seatbelts weren’t necessarily standard equipment in all vehicles, with many having none or making them an afterthought. Automakers were more concerned with how their vehicles looked and how fast they went, and the roads were filled with massive, heavy, and dangerous steel behemoths. Children were packed into the back seats with no consideration for safety. They stood up or leaned forward toward the front seat. On long trips, people slept on the back bench or rode on the rear shelf of the vehicle. The majority of parents saw no harm in this practice. Vehicle safety standards were rather lax in those years.

8. Women Often Needed Male Approval for Financial Accounts

For the greater part of the early 1960s, a rather surprising number of banks continued to regard married women as dependents in matters of money. For instance, a married woman seeking a certain type of account needed her husband’s approval first. The rules governing loans also seemed to favor the husband as the main financial controller of the family. A bank manager could demand the husband’s signature before approving a loan or giving credit to the woman. Some married women were also unable to acquire credit cards in their names; the cards were issued in the husband’s name even when the woman was the one handling the spending money.

9. Hitchhiking Was a Common Way to Travel

Hitchhiking was how a lot of people traveled in the 1960s. People would stand along the highways with their thumbs up, hoping someone would stop to give them a ride. Students, soldiers, and young adventurers were among those who frequently used this mode of transportation. Some would carry small cards showing the directions they wanted to go. People did not think twice about picking strangers along the way. This was especially true along the highways, especially in rural areas. When traveling long distances, it was usually necessary to rely on the kindness of strangers driving cars. This was especially true for young people, who saw hitchhiking as a way to be free-spirited.

10. Children Often Rode in the Back of Pickup Trucks

In the 1960s, it was not uncommon to see kids riding in the back of a pickup truck. In fact, trucks were the go-to vehicle for families in the 1960s, especially in rural towns and farm areas. If the parents had to go run some errands or visit the neighbors, the kids would pile into the back of the truck. There were no seat belts or safety rails to prevent the kids in the back of the truck from flying out if the truck took a sharp turn or hit a pothole. The wind blew through their hair as the truck cruised down the highway or down the road in the country. This was the way it was in the 1960s, and it was not seen as out of the ordinary or even worth a second glance by the adults in the community. This is because there were not many safety rules put in place in the 1960s regarding vehicles.

11. Stores Rarely Accepted Returns or Refunds

In the 1960s, many stores took a hard-line stance once the sale was made. You’d see signs at the cash register that would say “No Returns” or “All Sales Final.” If the dress did not fit or the toaster blew out, the store would not take it back. The customer was expected to know what they were purchasing and to inspect everything before handing over the money. Exchanges were sometimes permitted at the department store, but refunds were far from guaranteed. The small neighborhood stores, with their limited merchandise, avoided the whole issue of returns altogether. The basic philosophy at the time was that once the merchandise left the store, the customer was responsible for it.

12. Airplane Travel Followed Formal Behavior Rules

In the 1960s, flying was akin to a formal ritual. Air travel demanded that passengers be neatly dressed and behave graciously from takeoff to landing. Men wore suits and collared shirts, whereas women wore dresses and matching attire. Flight attendants were equally gracious, offering impeccable hospitality by welcoming passengers with courtesy. In-flight meals were akin to fine dining, served on actual dishes with metal cutlery. There were even sections for smokers inside the cabin. Air travel was considered an indulgence, not a perk, which is understandable since it was still in its infancy as a commercial activity.

13. Children Could Buy Cigarettes for Adults at Stores

Kids of the 1960s were often the go-between for their parents when it came to smoking. They’d go into the local store with coins in hand and leave with a pack of cigarettes. Small grocery and corner stores were all too eager to sell tobacco products to anyone under the age of 18. A parent would give their child some money and a brand of cigarettes to buy, and the child would go to the store, purchase the cigarettes, and then go home with them. The store owners knew their communities and the families who lived in those communities, so they knew the cigarettes were being bought for adults. This is how things were, and no one thought twice about it. This is also reflective of how widespread smoking was in the country at the time.

14. Television Stations Shut Down Broadcasts at Night

The early 1960s, for instance, were such a time when television wasn’t a round-the-clock activity. Most television channels ended their programming quite late, and as soon as the last program ended, they broadcast the national anthem and went off the air. After this, the television screen went blank and displayed a test pattern, which continued until the following morning, when television broadcasts resumed. If you stayed up past midnight, you’d see nothing but a blank screen or a vibrating pattern of black and white shades on the television screen. The television broadcast schedule followed a fixed pattern, and this greatly affected how families consumed television at home.

15. Schools Enforced Strict Hair and Appearance Rules

In the 1960s, schools had strict rules about the way students looked. It was thought that looking clean meant the students were well-disciplined and respected the authorities. Boys had to look clean-shaven with their hair short and trimmed above the collar. Some schools even went so far as to prohibit boys from having their hair long enough to touch their ears. Girls, too, had to adhere to strict rules about the length of their skirts, the use of cosmetics, and jewelry. During morning school assemblies, teachers used to scrutinize students to ensure they adhered to the rules about their appearance. These rules regarding the appearance of students became a topic of controversy in the latter part of the 1960s.

16. Hospitals Allowed Smoking Inside Buildings

In the 1960s, people were even permitted to smoke in places where today it would be considered outrageous, such as in hospitals. People would smoke beside the patients, and the waiting rooms were always filled with ashtrays and little tables. Doctors and nurses would even take their breaks in the hospital and smoke. Some areas of the hospital would even allow the patients to smoke in their rooms. Cigarettes were considered an integral part of adult life, and people had yet to realize the health hazards associated with cigarettes. The hospital corridors were filled with the smell of cigarettes and disinfectants. This was in accordance with the social environment of the time.

17. Children Played in Construction Sites and Empty Lots

In the 1960s, kids made construction sites and vacant spaces their own playground. New housing projects had vacant spaces with dirt piles, boards, and other building materials scattered around. But kids just jumped over them and made it their jungle gym. Kids constructed their own forts using lumber and rode their bicycles on the rough and uneven ground. There were no warning signs or fences, and adults did not post guards around the construction sites. After the kids came back from school or on a summer vacation, they just wandered around the place, looking for adventure. It was a place that fed their imagination and gave them endless possibilities for play.

18. Job Advertisements Often Listed “Men Only” or “Women Only”

In the 1960s, newspapers were filled with classified advertisements segregated by the gender of the candidates. The classified advertisements were headed with phrases such as “Help Wanted Male” or “Help Wanted Female.” The employers openly expressed their preferences for the gender of candidates for the advertised positions. For instance, secretarial positions were female-dominated, whereas technical and managerial positions were male-dominated. This was based on prevailing attitudes at the time, in which employers believed that certain jobs were either male or female. Attitudes were changing during the 1960s, especially as women entered the workforce in larger numbers. The civil rights movement challenged discriminatory practices in the workplace.

19. Office Workers Followed Strict Workplace Hierarchies

The offices of the 1960s were run on a strict hierarchy, and this hierarchy determined how people interacted with each other on a day-to-day basis. People treated their bosses with formality and rarely sought to push the boundaries of authority. In many offices, if a senior manager entered a room, all the staff stood up as a sign of respect. The young staff were assigned the more steady and mundane jobs, such as delivering documents, sorting papers, and making coffee for the bosses. Communication also followed a strict hierarchy, and skipping a level and going directly to a top manager rather than a supervisor was considered impolite. This structure reflected a traditional corporate culture, where discipline and order in the workplace were valued.

20. Many Restaurants Refused Service Without Reservations or Proper Behavior

In the 1960s, fine-dining establishments had a strict policy regarding how patrons conducted themselves. Going out to eat was not just about eating a meal; it was a serious social occasion. If patrons came in without a reservation during the restaurant’s busiest hours, they would not be seated. Some establishments would not seat patrons if they did not dress properly or if they made too much noise. Patrons had to observe traditional table manners throughout the entire meal. Using polite language with the wait staff and engaging in pleasant, quiet conversation was the norm. These were the rules and regulations based on the dining culture that was prevalent at the time.

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