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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
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
That wasn't really frowned upon until the nineties. All my friends' parents, mine, and basically every adult we knew smoked in his house, his car, everywhere. Children's rooms ... not that often, but sometimes, too.
People smoked in offices, including the doctor’s office, in church halls, on airplanes, trains, and buses, in restaurants, stores, and libraries. Teachers smoked in teachers lounges. However, if you were a “decent” woman, you didn’t smoke on the street. Only women of loose morals did that.
Load More Replies...I remember fetching my dad a packet of No 6 when I was about 8 years old from Colin the news agent, don’t be alarmed! It was fine because he knew my dad! Nothing to see here
As a kid in the 80's 90's i would buy my dad's cigs often, there was no problem at all. In my country the first law about it was in 2004, fordidden to sold it to a kid under 16yo, and the ban for under 18yo went in 2010 and this is not really applied.
Load More Replies...Cancer Sticks!!! Non-smoker now, but smoked for over 20 years, been smoke-free for 21 years this November... Best thing I ever did...
That was my mom and grandma’s cigs of choice. Now they’re going to be banned in the US
Load More Replies...According to my dad, his parents were the only ones in his childhood neighborhood who *didn't* smoke. And this was in the 1950's.
"Tropenschatz"! Those were the cheapest cigars available in germany then, and some stores sold them in single pieces, not per pack. We didn't really like them, but we smoked them pretty often, due to them being cheap, and us being broke. Anyone around here know these? Disgusting, and old rope would have tasted better.......
I was amazed by cigs vending machines as a teenager in Germany. On the other hand i was amazed in Australia, when i was 18 or 19yo and my dad had to call my host family to say that i had the right to smoke. And the funny thing is that their own son was a smoker too but they didn't realize he was smocking a lot of pot and cigs. Maybe look at your sons eyes and smell before interfering in a strangers life?
Load More Replies...I was 9 and remember going over the road to pick up a pack of 12 Benson and Hedges for 2 shillings
My dad was a chain smoker and we had shag carpet. He smoked in the house and the car. When we went to the movies he'd get up about 10 times to smoke and say "Tell me what happened."
When I was stationed at MCAS New River, NC in the mid 80's there was a cigarette vending machine in our barracks.
I'm so glad my parents stopped smoking when they wanted to have children and also never allowed guests to smoke in the house. My best friend's parents in kindergarden and the first years in school were heavy smokers and I never liked going there. We played mostly at our house. My mum even says it felt like se had four children sometimes.
These must be British cigs. My Mom smoked Camels. I had a preference for Virginia Slims Menthol Lights.
My chain-smoking neighbor’s filth comes in if I open a window. I can’t be out in my yard or on my porch. It even comes through the goddamn walls. Smokers get all aggressive about freedom to smoke and don’t give the slightest goddamn about anyone’s right to not breathe their filth! Smokers: I don’t care how “polite” you think you’re being, when you smoke; you’re violating everyone around you by doing it. Just because you can’t tell or people feel too worried about enraging you to comment, it’s happening and people hate you for it.
I used to get sent to our local shops as a kid by my mum to buy her ciggies. She'd give me a note giving permission for me to buy them for her.
My parents didn’t smoke, but if someone came over who did they would be allowed to smoke in the house.
I grew up in the 60s and 70s and everyone smoked. I couldn't stand it. They smoked everywhere. But I have one good memory of that time...in the summer when we' were camping and it was night, my dad would draw in the air with his cigarette making cool images in the dark. I can still see them to this day!
So previous to the 1980s cigarettes were mainly tobacco it wasn’t until after the 1980s that these cigarette industry started adding very toxic chemicals in order to increase the addictive properties of cigarettes. I believe there are over a half a dozen toxic chemicals in cigarettes these days which would actually require a hazmat suit to deal with
Pregnant woman at 60’s smoked because thanks that the baby was smaller, labor easier and they could back to their Old weight faster
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.
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.
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.