13 Household Items All Moms Used in the ’70s That Are Now (Mostly) Gone
If you’d step into a Doctor Who’s Tardis machine, set the dial for a 1970 American home, and open the door. You’ll most likely be greeted by a décor of harvest gold and burnt orange and enough shag rugs to make you sneeze.
Your trip down memory lane would, however, be incomplete without household items such as the icebox and rotary dial phones moms of the 70s used in keeping the home running. Much as most of them are now replaced with modern alternatives, they continue to hold for us the memories of simpler times long before the internet– long before the commonplaceness of floor scrubbers and voice-controlled washing machines.
1. Lava Lamps
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A decorative staple of the 70s, moms deployed lava lamps as a totem of trending design and as a torch to light up dark spaces. Lava lamps were loved for the soothing effects their warm light radiates and the magical sight of watching their wax blobs mix and swirl inside the lamp.
You can still order lava lamps on eBay and Amazon and in physical stores today, but they are rare to find and no longer command the appeal attributed to them five decades ago.
2. Washboard
While washboards were already going out of vogue in most homes in the 1970s, most moms, likely due to rising inflation of the time, settled for the convenience of a washboard over the cutthroat luxury of a Zanker or Miele washing machine.
Decades after gradually disappearing from everyday use, washboards made a surprising comeback during Covid 19, according to the Columbus Washboard Company, the last remaining factory manufacturing washboards in the United States. A few thousand people living in large clustered cities bought washboards as an alternative to visiting laundromats in the bid to keep their social distance. Despite the unexpected comeback, you’re only likely to find the washboard moms of the 70s used in museums, antique stores, and as decorative pieces on walls of relic collectors.
3. Pressure Cookers
From tender roasts to hearty stews, 1970s moms relied on pressure cookers when gunning for quick, time-saving meals. Pressure cookers were a sharp deviation from the laborious, time-consuming saucepans of that decade but required careful attention so they don’t burn foods or turn them into soggy, overcooked pastes. The risk of threatening explosion or steam blast from using a pressure cooker was also present.
With the rise of electric pressure cookers, newer generations of moms said goodbye to the efficient yet violent stovetops. They, however, still make for an object of fond memories we would give up most things to revisit.
4. Waterbeds
The idea of water filling your bed may appear strange in 2024, but it was, in fact, a symbol of novelty and healthy living for moms in the 70s. Tipped to provide better comfort compared to traditional mattresses, waterbeds, according to the Puffy Mattress, accounted for 20% of the mattress market in the 1970s.
While arguably comfortable to lie on (some users believe sleeping on one alleviates back pain), waterbeds were hard to maintain. Leaks were also very common, and by the late 80s, the hype and utility associated with the waterbed had mostly died off.
5. Macramé Décor
What’s a time capsule drive down the 70s’ household without a touch of the Macramé décor? Moms of the 70s dot every angle of their homes with macramé plant hangers, sometimes creating personalized designs from knotted cords.
We’ve seen the resurgence of Macramé décor in recent years (as recent as 2023), but it’s no longer as popular as it was in its heyday.
6. Rotary Dial Phones
Rotary dial phones may have no use case in the modern world, but for the 70s moms, they were the equivalent of today’s iPhone, albeit with far fewer technological features. A constant home fixture five decades ago, moms love the rotary phones for their sturdiness and reliability and as a means to spend lengthy hours chatting with family and friends.
By the 1990s, most plants had stopped manufacturing rotary phones, pushing the device into the abyss of nostalgic novelty rather than as a technological necessity.
7. Bean Bag Chairs
Bean bag chairs reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s, enjoying the widespread marketing effort similar to that of the waterbed. Moms use the soft, squishy bean bags for lounging and as a decorative item when adding a playful touch to spaces.
Bean bag chairs are not totally gone like most other things, but they no longer make the fashion conversations like they used to. Their lack of durability compared to other sturdy furniture likely contributed to their demise.
8. Manual Can Opener
A test of strength and patience for moms in the 70s, manual can openers held the stage before the electric revolution that ushered in automated openers. The manual can opener wasn’t just for cans. It was used to open stubborn can lids and hard-to-turn bottle caps.
Manual can openers still make for a cheaper alternative compared to electric ones and are still sold in stores as part of kitchen essentials. But they are becoming increasingly less common– a pointer to their fading relevance as it’s with other items moms found ubiquitous in the 70s households.
9. Typewriters
You could type a novel-length document right from your phone or the convenience of your personal computer. In the 70s households, typewriters were the most advanced and widely available machine for typing. Moms used them for everything from writing out recipes to composing letters and Sunday choir hymns.
Typewriters, though still available, are fast becoming a relic of a bygone era. While the tactile experience of typing on a typewriter brings fond memories, they do not measure up to the typing efficiency of present-day workspaces.
10. Polaroid Cameras
Although nothing compared to modern digital cameras, polaroids were the darling items of 70s households. Loved by moms for their instant photographic feature, families documented precious moments that were ready to print on the spot to create instant keepsakes.
The SX-70 series was the most popular polaroid mode of the 70s, with new releases launching at the tail end of the decade– a pointer to growing demands and widespread acceptance at the time. Polaroid cameras have gone into obscurity since digital cameras took over. But they still steal a fond smile from everyone with a memory of what they look like.
11. Shag Carpets
The soft and luxurious underfoot feeling of the shag carpet is why moms choose it as the preferred flooring option in the 70s. Shag carpets were stylish and befitting of the time, often rhyming with the avocado green that characterizes the interior decor of that era.
Despite how great they looked, shag carpets were difficult to clean (even after using a shag rake to pull out the dirt, dust, and tinier particles remained). You can still buy shag carpets in stores and online, but they pose more maintenance hassle compared to modern hardwood floors and low-pile carpets.
12. Crock-Pots
Offering a contrasting feature to the pressure cooker, the crock pot slowly cooks meals to bring out the tenderness and flavor of ingredients, and it’s one of mom’s favorite kitchen appliances of the 70s.
Crock-pots are sparingly in use today, and have been replaced by instant pots and other modern appliances. Some chefs also discourage its use, arguing that it makes layering flavor and texture impossible.
13. Citizen Band Radio
For moms in rural areas who enjoy a bit of trucker culture, Citizen Band Radio (CB Radio) provides a way to connect and share information with several people at the same time over a short distance in the 70s. The radio has a range of between 2-20 miles and up to 23 channels through which users can communicate.
The advent of the internet and mobile phones relegated CB radios to the backdrop of history. While not completely gone, you’ll likely only find one with a trucker as a means of short-range communication or in the care of a hobbyist clinging to a relic of a time in the not-too-distant past.
