The old Geezers 70's and 80's Megathread

[BIG_DADDY]

The Suzzane Somers thread got me thinking about a conversation I was having with one of my friends about how awesome it was to be alive in the 70s and 80s. You try telling younger generations about it but it’s impossible. For starters testosterone levels were WAY, WAY higher back then. There were very few girly men like we have so many of today. Much higher levels of T and no cell phones had a huge impact on your social/sex life. Everybody was fing everybody and it was awesome. Nobody was up in your business. Everyone knew what they were and what bathroom to use. Fat people were few and far between. Teenage years were amazing. Cruising every Friday night with people bringing out all their bad rides and the girls all sexied up. Kegers every friggen weekend. The music was so much better too. Still remember going to Van Halen’s first tour. It didn’t cost anything to see those bands back then. As a young adult the party for me just continued as I went into health clubs. Once again everybody was doing everybody. The parties after we closed the club, just wow. When I moved to the bay area from Florida it just continued. I remember when the Exotic Erotic ball was a company function and we took 10 limos to the city filled with teenage girls in their sexiest lingerie. Can you imagine that happening today? Sadly that way of life ended with Anita Hill and the invention of the smart phone amongst other things. I will be forever grateful to god for being able to grow up during that time. I feel so bad for the kids coming up today, there’s just no comparison.

So what do you say old geezers, give me a walk down memory lane.

[el borracho]

On a (somewhat) related note: Was the food at McDonald's ever good?

The overal taste/ quality seems the same as I remember from the 80s but surely the recipes and production were not the same when they first opened in the 50s. I mean, did they even have the crap ingredients and the preservatives then? Surely McDonald's must have produced better food at some time so when did it all go to hell?

[mlyonsd]

Originally Posted by el borracho

On a (somewhat) related note: Was the food at McDonald's ever good?

The overal taste/ quality seems the same as I remember from the 80s but surely the recipes and production were not the same when they first opened in the 50s. I mean, did they even have the crap ingredients and the preservatives then? Surely McDonald's must have produced better food at some time so when did it all go to hell?

When they quit frying fries in beef tallow and got rid of the fried apple pie.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by penchief

Hitchhiking was an acceptable form of transportation until the mid eighties. After that, it was pretty much rendered illegal or taboo. I used to hitchhike all over the country into my early twenties.

This clears up some things.

[Megatron96]

Someone on here a few months ago posted a pic of a beach somewhere in the US back in the 1950s; no fat people, period. hundreds of people, all basically in decent shape. The next pic was the same beach in 2015 or whatever; 80% or more just waddling fat pigs.


Kind of in the same vein, a buddy of mine used to be a Marine drill instructor and told me that when he started back in the late '90s more than half the recruits could pass the minimum physical fitness standard tests.

By the time he retired in the 2010s or so most could not. once, there was a group of recruits jumping out of the back of a truck, and some kid jumped and broke his ankle, just jumping out of the truck. I think he told me that they had to let them climb out of the trucks after that; no jumping allowed because they kept injuring themselves from the 4-foot drop or whatever.


How does a 20-something hurt themselves dropping 4 feet?

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by WilliamTheIrish

I know we have discussed this before, but what size school and city do you live if you and (everybody) drove to school with .22’s in the window rack?

I went to a school of 450/500. In a city of 100k.

Very, very few folks had their hunting stuff in a car/truck. Car stereo theft alone in the 70’s was out of control. If somebody’s gun got stolen out of a truck (locked or unlocked) there was a Dad who was going to kick his son’s ass.

Everybody I knew practiced incredible caution with their firearm.

I hear ya. I went to high school in a city of about 120-130k. I don't recall anyone having guns. But I know my cousin did in st Mary's.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by el borracho

On a (somewhat) related note: Was the food at McDonald's ever good?

The overal taste/ quality seems the same as I remember from the 80s but surely the recipes and production were not the same when they first opened in the 50s. I mean, did they even have the crap ingredients and the preservatives then? Surely McDonald's must have produced better food at some time so when did it all go to hell?

It was actually very good for the price. I think it started going to crap in the 70s, but fell off a cliff in the 80s

[Megatron96]

I know they changed the oil they used to fry with sometime in the 80-90s. They were better with the old oil, whatever it was.

[IowaHawkeyeChief]

Arcades at the mall... Loved me some Track and Field, Xcite-a-bike, and many others...

Also, Malls were king and packed. Karmel Korn, the Movie Theatre and the iconic Record Store.

[Ming the Merciless]

being able to ride your bike to the next town a few miles away and not worrying about all the psychos, as a kid

[Stewie]

Originally Posted by el borracho

On a (somewhat) related note: Was the food at McDonald's ever good?

The overal taste/ quality seems the same as I remember from the 80s but surely the recipes and production were not the same when they first opened in the 50s. I mean, did they even have the crap ingredients and the preservatives then? Surely McDonald's must have produced better food at some time so when did it all go to hell?

I think all fast food has changed over the years. BK and Hardee's changed the most from what I remember.

Another thing that has changed since I was in HS in the 70s is that there weren't nearly the number of FF places as now. We had to make a fairly long drive to the closest one, and that was McDonald's. AND back then there were no drive-throughs. You had to go in and wait in line and eat inside. That was a bit of a deterrent compared to just eating something at home.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

Someone on here a few months ago posted a pic of a beach somewhere in the US back in the 1950s; no fat people, period. hundreds of people, all basically in decent shape. The next pic was the same beach in 2015 or whatever; 80% or more just waddling fat pigs.


Kind of in the same vein, a buddy of mine used to be a Marine drill instructor and told me that when he started back in the late '90s more than half the recruits could pass the minimum physical fitness standard tests.

By the time he retired in the 2010s or so most could not. once, there was a group of recruits jumping out of the back of a truck, and some kid jumped and broke his ankle, just jumping out of the truck. I think he told me that they had to let them climb out of the trucks after that; no jumping allowed because they kept injuring themselves from the 4-foot drop or whatever.


How does a 20-something hurt themselves dropping 4 feet?

The average weight of a woman today is MORE than the average weight of a man back in the 60's.

The fat pigs have not gained any height, just 30 pounds heavier per.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Stewie

I think all fast food has changed over the years. BK and Hardee's changed the most from what I remember.

Another thing that has changed since I was in HS in the 70s is that there weren't nearly the number of FF places as now. We had to make a fairly long drive to the closest one, and that was McDonald's. AND back then there were no drive-throughs. You had to go in and wait in line and eat inside. That was a bit of a deterrent compared to just eating something at home.

Remember when all Pizza Huts were dine-in/carryout, no delivery? No boxes either; they somehow put the pizzas in that brown paper tent thing.

About 5 years ago I found a dine-in PH in some dink town in CO, I think? We stopped for dinner; so much better than their delivery pizza.

[DJJasonp]

It was nice in the summers to ride your bike to big cheese pizza or godfathers and for about 3-5 bucks, they had all you can eat buffet lunches.

My first job was being a caddy at a golf course when I was 13. Would stop at 6am at McDonald’s and have a “big breakfast” for 3 bucks.

I also recall when Atari first came out and having 8-10 kids in the same house waiting to play missile command or asteroids.

Being that age, I also recall going to community pools and also using their tennis courts, shuffleboard, ping pong etc.

We were never “doing nothing”

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

HS school pop when I was in HS was about 450 I think? Tulsa was around 200k, iirc, so big enough.

HS student parking lot was probably around 40% pickups? More than half had the obligatory shotgun/rifle rack in the back window. At the time, I probably thought that those racks were a factory option I saw so many of them. Probably the same at every HS in town. Not one school shooting, not one incident of a kid threatening to go get his gun out of his truck, etc.


On any given summer weekend in Tulsa back in the '80s HS kids from the surrounding towns, as far away as Parsons KS, would show up in town in their pickups complete with shotgun/rifle racks. Hundreds, if not thousands, of trucks with guns would flood into town, filled with HS/college-age kids, and then leave without a shooting incident, not even an accidental one, like "gun fall off rack and somehow fires by itself."

Just so weird to me. I grew up in WESTERN IOWA. Hick central. Nobody had any gun racks in their vehicle. Very few even had trucks. Maybe one or two had gun racks I guess but perhaps the Fast and the Furious changed that. Alot of rice burners as they call it. I used to have a 98 Honda Prelude in high school. Got me laid many a times.

[displacedinMN]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

Remember when all Pizza Huts were dine-in/carryout, no delivery? No boxes either; they somehow put the pizzas in that brown paper tent thing.

About 5 years ago I found a dine-in PH in some dink town in CO, I think? We stopped for dinner; so much better than their delivery pizza.

Dine in Pizza Hut was the greatest