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40 Pics Of The Greatest Dangers In ’70s Households That Look Nostalgic And Terrifying At The Same Time
We don’t really notice how fast time goes by. But this time, we are taking you on a trip to the past that shows how our households have changed beyond recognition since the '70s.
And trust me, in most cases, it’s for the better. Take a chip pan, for example—these crazy fire agents that produced the best chips on the planet your mom can probably still taste in her mouth would keep homes on the brink of tragedy, and yet people adored them.
Thanks to the Memorial Device Twitter page that shared this illuminating guide, we now have the full list of the 40 greatest '70s household dangers all posted in order. Both nostalgic and utterly terrifying, they make you wonder whether people back then had less of a sense of health and safety. Or if it’s us who live in an overly protective mindset. Anyhow, I prefer the latter one.
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My mum set the kitchen on fire using one of these- we first saw the flames through the serving hatch into the dining room. Luckily the local Fire Chief and his son, a fireman lived next door to us.
Making the opening smaller results in a quicker draw on the coals which gives a quicker hot fire.
Bored Panda reached out to the authors behind the Memorial Device Twitter page who shared this viral thread which listed 40 dangerous things that were casually used in ’70s households. Introducing themselves as “a band from Airdrie,” a town in Scotland, the creators said that their account was inspired “100% by the book ‘This is Memorial Device’ by the genius Scottish author, David Keenan.” They added that “You will have to read the book to really understand the account.”
Here's the bizarre video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQcGIZioqQE&t=4s&ab_channel=FunFinder
My grandma had a manual mangle (wringer). Before the advent of washing machines with a decent spin cycle, my mum had a spinner, which was basically a small washing machine drum mounted vertically and it did a better spin to get more water out.
My granny had one to. You had to put a bowl in front of it to catch the water.
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These DID have safety features. They were designed to pop open if anything too big went through and they ALL have that big red button that you can see in the photo on the right that opens the wringer. ...///... I HAVE done laundry with one of these things, and it sucks, but they aren't as dangerous as all that.
I can add to this with certainty - They don't always pop like they should. I should include a picture of my right hand with a mangled pointer finger and middle finger where a dumb 3 year old child tried to feed it wash cloth. My mom looked away to grab more laundry and I tried the help.
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Used one of these, was really fun except when the duvet cover went through the wrong way and had a big bubble of air in it. Actually made me enjoy doing laundry with my mom. :)
We had a twin tub washer with a hose going in to the sink to drain the water out - I used to really enjoy it!
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This is nothing. When I was 11-12, we had to take wood shop for a month. Really cool, but the supervision was minimal at best. Picture a bunch of tweens using belt sanders, scroll saws, planers, and the like with literally no safety features, and one teacher for 20 kids.
Hell, the shop teachers were often missing fingers themselves...
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My grandmother had one similar while my mom and aunts were growing up. My oh so adventurous mother got her arm stunk in the wringer. She still has a dip in her arm from where she tried to pull her arm back out.
Nope. We had one in our house in the 1980s, US, bought int he 1970s! :-)
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I loved using my Grandma's wringer/washer. It was so amazing to put the clothes through and watch all the water squish out. LOL! And I had really long hair at the time - just glad my hair didn't go through!
What do you mean, It DID =have a SINGLE safety thinga-ma-bob. When you got your arm stuck in it, it would automatically let go at a certain point. That point was different for every one. I Know that because I talked my brother into sticking his arm in to see when it triggered. I didn't understand why mum was so angry.......... All the time.
My mom had one too,her's was in the bath room. So on wash day took,buckets of water filled it up. Then tub was filled, with rinsed water. My problem was,when putting clothes through. The ringer and if,no one wasn't on the other side to catch it. It get caught on the,roller and go around it and it goes Pop! Sound that scares the,H- ll, out of me. My biggest fear was getting my fingers caught in it. Cleans clothes very clean, and get water out. It only takes few minutes clothes was dry,by the time,the others was washed. I wish I had one, today I be washing right now. Also save go on,electric bill and water bill.
I tested out our wringer as we called them in Australia, as a kid. It worked really well and wrung my arm almost to my shoulder! I screamed and the whole street arrived to help. Mr Freeman from next door found the release button and I escaped scot free
Caught my, then, long hair in one but ours had a bar to push up and open to free yourself.
One of my friends had a mangled right hand and the healing left him with a black, gnarled, gritty palm.He put his hand in one of these old washing machine's rollers.
Here (USA) the mangle was a massive Ironing device. It looked similar to the attachments shown above but it was free standing and you could use it to simply press clothing or it had rollers for items that were long like sheets or table cloths.
This is from the 1930s, not the 1970s. There were plenty of spin washers by the 70s.
I grew up with those. Mother ALWAYS use a stick to push the clothes through the wringer. NEVER, never used her hands.
We had one of these too. I remember getting my fingers caught in the mangle part and my nails going black. The black nails got me great street cred with the other kids on the estate.
The one on the right looks very similar to the one my great-grandmother had. This really is a trip down memory lane for me!
Back when people were held accountable for their own stupidity, rather than my hot chocolate having a "contents hot" warning, my knife having a warning about being sharp, and my eggs warning me they "contain egg".
Meh, what's the harm in losing an arm whilst putting one's towels through the old 'wringer' as we called them in Australia.
When I was eleven I decided to help my mum with the washing. I put a small towel through the mangle and it pulled my arm in. Just before it reaches my elbow I started to pull my arm back. 36 years later I still have a huge circular scar on my arm. Two neighbours had to smash the machine apart to get me out. Great story to tell at school though.
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When asked how they came up with an idea to create the guide to all the miscellaneous stuff from the past, the creators said that it’s just one of many countdown lists on the “Memorial Device” account. “But it’s the one that most people seem to identify with,” they said and added that it may be because it’s “Proper working-class history.”
I nicked the red bulbs out of our and used then in my bedroom light fitting. The whole street thought my parents had started a brothel.
We also asked if they can imagine anyone living with some of these crazy household objects these days, the authors said that they in fact experienced “the bathroom ceiling heater in Whitby last week. Switched it on—nothing happened. Came back later and it was glowing hotter than the sun. And it was fitted above the bath.”
The band added that they’re “Big fans of the coal effect fire and the immersion heater, along with the working-class shower,” and found “drawing the fire as total madness.” “As is buying a full-size crossbow from the Kays catalogue on HP,” the Memorial Device concluded.
they gave out fantastic heat but the gas bottles when full were so heavy and it gradually went up in price to a ridiculous level
nicely mixed into a tune by the Prodigy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSTBFZ-To2E
OMG I miss these shoes. I want a pair right now!! I remember having a pair in every color they offered (tan, white, navy and black). I loved these!!!
your younger brother's urine at best. A brown submarine discovered at worst.
Only in dysfunctional families would these be used a lethal weapon. The rest of the world used them to throw them at dartboards.
Leaving a battery on an unregulated charger is something a moron would do. 1970s or otherwise.
I have an electric blanket. Try to take it and I'll attack you with my deadly manual egg beater. I didn't realize I was living on the edge.
Don't get why people feel the urge to declare a lot of these items deadly or lethal. Yes, they might not be up with our modern safety regulations, but in those days people had common sense and they knew how to handle equipment that could pose a danger. Today you even have to warn that ingesting bleach doesn't cure Covid-19.
People died, Wil. People died. That’s why we have safety regulations today.
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I never seen or heard about several products named in the article. And I am OK with that :))))
OK, will someone do a US version, now? I'll start: metal roller skates that you buckled onto your shoes. My knees looked like raw hamburger after hitting the pavement.
We had those but the UK too. And it's nice to take a trip down memory lane..
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More than half of the staff are still in use and there is exaggeration that they are so deadly dangerous! If that's so let's put on the list knives, ladders or even cars!
This was a whole post detailing the contents of my mothers kitchen in the late 80's!
I stopped halfway through. Most of the posts are 'waah I'm a sheltered rubber tile kid and can't handle anything without 99+ safety features and even then I'll sue if I manage to hurt myself with it'. Most of these items are perfectly fine. I mean, scared of a crossbow, but guns at Walmart are ok? A tool for cutting fries is dangerous? It doesn't jump at you... just don't try to cut your hand into fries? Choking on a coin in a pie when you know it's there? It's a wonder people even survived back then, huh?
Well, since people lost eyes or died, it might be nice to remember that we're much safer now than we were then.
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Who needs common sense or brains nowadays? The squealing video-posting reflex soothes and protects better.
Love this, brought up with many of those items, yes they were dangerous. People did die, falling asleep with the electric blanket on, was a real danger and happened, not nowadays though as electric blankets are safer and are designed for this,but not then. 've nearly caused several house fires 'drawing the fire' and have vivid (and regular) memories of my mum running out the back door with the chip pan ablaze. We are lucky to have survived lol
I remember all of these, and personally experienced about three quarters of them. How did I stay alive? Oh, and they missed out roller skates, which were guaranteed to cause at least one child's death annually.
I still have a "working class shower" bit messy (water goes everywhere) but works fine when needed
To hear clueless people who weren't even born yet in the '70s talk, you'd think it was a miracle that any of us who *were* there managed to survive. ;-)
Other than a few specific to the UK, I still own/like a lot of these. i survived 'em in the 70s.
I have an electric blanket. Try to take it and I'll attack you with my deadly manual egg beater. I didn't realize I was living on the edge.
Don't get why people feel the urge to declare a lot of these items deadly or lethal. Yes, they might not be up with our modern safety regulations, but in those days people had common sense and they knew how to handle equipment that could pose a danger. Today you even have to warn that ingesting bleach doesn't cure Covid-19.
People died, Wil. People died. That’s why we have safety regulations today.
Load More Replies... I never seen or heard about several products named in the article. And I am OK with that :))))
OK, will someone do a US version, now? I'll start: metal roller skates that you buckled onto your shoes. My knees looked like raw hamburger after hitting the pavement.
We had those but the UK too. And it's nice to take a trip down memory lane..
Load More Replies... More than half of the staff are still in use and there is exaggeration that they are so deadly dangerous! If that's so let's put on the list knives, ladders or even cars!
This was a whole post detailing the contents of my mothers kitchen in the late 80's!
I stopped halfway through. Most of the posts are 'waah I'm a sheltered rubber tile kid and can't handle anything without 99+ safety features and even then I'll sue if I manage to hurt myself with it'. Most of these items are perfectly fine. I mean, scared of a crossbow, but guns at Walmart are ok? A tool for cutting fries is dangerous? It doesn't jump at you... just don't try to cut your hand into fries? Choking on a coin in a pie when you know it's there? It's a wonder people even survived back then, huh?
Well, since people lost eyes or died, it might be nice to remember that we're much safer now than we were then.
Load More Replies... Who needs common sense or brains nowadays? The squealing video-posting reflex soothes and protects better.
Love this, brought up with many of those items, yes they were dangerous. People did die, falling asleep with the electric blanket on, was a real danger and happened, not nowadays though as electric blankets are safer and are designed for this,but not then. 've nearly caused several house fires 'drawing the fire' and have vivid (and regular) memories of my mum running out the back door with the chip pan ablaze. We are lucky to have survived lol
I remember all of these, and personally experienced about three quarters of them. How did I stay alive? Oh, and they missed out roller skates, which were guaranteed to cause at least one child's death annually.
I still have a "working class shower" bit messy (water goes everywhere) but works fine when needed
To hear clueless people who weren't even born yet in the '70s talk, you'd think it was a miracle that any of us who *were* there managed to survive. ;-)
Other than a few specific to the UK, I still own/like a lot of these. i survived 'em in the 70s.
