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Shared television watching was more of a thing. Most houses just had one television because they were bulky and expensive. There were three network channels and a couple community channels, so lots of people watched the same stuff and could talk about it. (More a 60s thing than 70s.)
There were department stores that were usually open until 9:00 pm. Sears or K-Mart and such. But as far as fun, we hung out with all the other neighborhood kids and played baseball or rode our bikes, or shot BB guns in the woods. Played in the creek, card games, board games, army men battles, watching TV shows, going to movies in theatres (Star Wars was 1977), drive-ins, and more. We were just more social in real life than only on the internet.
Malls were generally open until 9 PM except on Sundays although they tended to discourage unsupervised teens from being there. There were movie theaters, both in and outside the mall. Hanging out in parking lots was popular until the local cops cracked down.
Grocery stores usually closed somewhere between 6 PM and 8PM. K-Mart, Zayre, Gibson’s and other early big box stores were open later, usually until 9 PM, sometimes 10 PM. 24 hour stores were relatively rare outside of major metro areas in the US.
I was still a teenager in the 70s, we walked around at night, most of the time with a bag of weed. When we saw someone or a group of people, we would offer to smoke a doob with them, and then just hung out and talked.
Or we would gather at a local point, where I lived it was a park where most teens in the area went at night.
The shopping malls were open until 9 p.m. Restaurants would close at 10 p.m. or later. We played outside, rode bikes all over town, went to our friends houses or they came to ours, especially in the summer. We watched our favorite TV shows when they aired- no way to view them later. If you missed an episode, you had to wait until summer reruns to see it.
Ā Play that brand new album you bought at the record store. Read a book. Play board or card games. Talk on the phone with a friend. Draw/paint. Try that new recipe.Experiment with the newest makeup, hairstyles, or nail polishes featured in your favorite teen fashion magazine. Sew that cute new outfit to wear to school a week from Monday. Just to name a few.
Only the convenience store or a drug store was open on sundays. Grocery shopping was done on Saturdays if there was no one home during the week. We had one lady in our neighbourhood with a vehicle, old school station wagon, we would pack Moms and kids into that. Grocery stores were closed by 7 pm. Theyāre opened at 9 am and banks were open from 10-3 M-F and from 10-12 on Saturday.
we would go to the river bottoms and have a keg, a boom box and some weed, maybe some mushrooms or even electric cool aid and build a bonfire and dance, get stoned maybe skinny dip or pair off with a partner and and a blanket to go off in the woods
A lot of it depended on how old you were. Before I could drive I would hang out with friends in the neighborhood. Had to be home when the streetlights came on. If there was a cute girl in the neighborhood you liked you might try and go chat her up on her front porch. After I was driving, a lot of the same, just moving. Swing by and pick up some friends and go cruising. Listening to music. I lived in a college town so we would go cruise the girls dorms and check the girls out. Week nights I had to be home by 10. Weekends it was midnight unless I was on a date and I got pre approved, then 1 or 2 depending on what I could swing.
This was the early days of video game consoles. Asteroids, Centipede, Defender, Galaxian, Missile Command, etc.
These first showed up in Pizza Parlors and bars. Soon there was enough to have dedicated locations that had multiple consoles where kids hung out. They were in malls but also stand alone.
Most big box stores and especially malls were open til 9. Small, local shops in downtown areas and shopping centers were the only ones that closed at 6. We went to skating rink, movies, bowling, Putt Putt, arcades, lots of hanging out at friend’s homes too. Watching TV, playing board games, cards, whatever.
More organized sports back then too. Rec ball wasn’t just for kids. Many businesses, civic clubs, churches etc fielded softball teams and played in organized leagues. My dad played for years. We’d go watch and see our other friends, play on the playgrounds at the parks etc. There was a sense of “You knew everybody and their spouses and their kids too” back then. You saw them all the time.
Where I lived the stores closed at 6 pm, except 1 night a week when they stayed open until 9. I imagine the liquor store and at least 1 gas station stayed open later. Also our gas stations only had a few snacks, I think chips, soda and candy bars. Usually not air conditioned, so your chocolate might be soft. We had 2 bars and they were open late, maybe closed on Sunday though. So we went to sports practice, 4H or scouts after school. On Fridays we had high school games. Otherwise we ate dinner at home, then watched TV or read.
Small town evenings in the 70s meant football, basketball, baseball games at the school. Hanging out on the town square or in the neighborhood. Watching whatever was on television that night. Listening to the radio.
Weekdays we worked, ate dinner, went to sleep. Saturday we cleaned house, went out to dinner, movie. Sunday we did laundry, got ready for Monday. Shopping was grocery shopping unless there was something we absolutely needed. We would replace fun stuff on Saturday night with shopping for those necessities. Until 9:00pm.
Imagine your home only had one internet connection, and one terminal to access it, and your entire family has to negotiate (fight to the death) what you’re going to surf to except there are 3 major websites and a couple small local ones.
I grew up in the Midwest. When I was younger it was outside until the street lights came on in the summer. I went everywhere on my bike. It was TV in the winter. When I got older it was movies, bowling, or the mall on Friday and Saturday nights.
Shopping in the evening wasn’t something I did usually. Taking the car for a ride while listening to Bruce Springsteen full blast, windows down, smoking a cigarette, was a thing I did alone or with friends, especially in the summer. The car next to you had their music on, we enjoyed each other’s songs.
Teens and college students almost all had part time jobs.
Even in the 80ās most teens had part time jobs and it was not unusual at all for high school students to be closers at say fast food places getting home at like 11pm from their part time jobs! Same for college age people.
The other thing is TV. There were only like 3 or 4 channels so we all ended up watching the same shows and would go to school or work and everyone can talk about the same show from last night.
Adults would get together to play cards a lot. People would invite each other over more for dinner, cook outs.
Malls were open until 10:00 pm, with arcades & food courts & movie theaters & restaurants. Bowling alleys, pool halls, roller skating/ice skating, & just hanging out at the local lake or park. The town hosted concerts on the common during the spring/summer/fall.
Road loading with my friends. Watch tv (whatever was the āItā show for that day of the week – like Happy Days or Movie of the Week), read, call friends and hang out on the phone)
I graduated from high school in 1980. I personally stayed home and read or did crafts on my own most evenings. My siblings usually played outside with neighborhood kids.
When I was in high school, I occasionally went to a party at a friend’s house, but that was only about once a month or so. Dating was usually going to a movie and maybe getting pizza afterwards.
After 6pm? In the winter I would watch tv with my parents and siblings and while tv was on we would also work on jigsaws, or make popcorn on the stove. I enjoyed doing embroidery and making latch hook rugs while watching tv. In the summer kids were out until dark catching fireflies, listening to the radio, playing wiffle ball or tag. We stayed outside longer if it was really hot because hardly anyone had AC in those days. It was cooler to be outside. Lots of good memories.
Go to the mall. Bowling, roller skating, ice skating. Walk-in or drive-in movies. Talk on the phone to a friend. Listen to music. Cruise up and down the main street of town. School dances, football and basketball games.
As a child and teen miniature golf was another silly past time
Twister, the game, indoors
Church activities for pre teens
Dances put on by the school several times a year, and proms in Junior and Senior year
High school we had plenty of after school programs, clubs, sports etc and buses that took us home at 6 pm
Sleepover parties, which involved more sleeping bags than sleep: board games, junk food, trying on makeup, giggling
Once we hit 16, we usually had part time jobs in the evening and full time in the summer
And dating! A meal, some activity and perhaps āParkingā in secluded areas, which involved āmaking outā for 6 months to a year before anything more sexual was broached in those pre-birth control Pill days
Stores closed at 9pm but everything was closed on Sunday, except grocery stores and they were only open for certain purchases and up until like 3pm.
We rode the parking lot of the strip mall after it closed and on Fridayās and Saturday nights. We would drive in a big circle and every so often we would park inside the circle and sit on the cars and talk, listen to music, etc. this was when we were in high school.
We played neighborhood chase. Got a bunch of kids together and ran all through the neighborhood hiding anywhere and everywhere. It was so much fun especially after dark
stores were open, as were movie theaters and especially drive-ins, (which were a big thing, āback in the dayā).
But, mostly broke, we made our own fun ā¦ flashlight tag, pool hopping, (not many pools around, so if there was one, weād sneak in and swim), catching fireflies and throwing stuff in the air to attract bats.
FYI 24 hour grocery stores, and similar stores were much more of a thing back in the day. I’m recalling it being very common in the 80s, but also in the 80s and not 70s I was of an age where I sometimes wanted to go to the grocery store in the wee hours. Google AI just says that it started in the late 60s, but not really giving much as to how common it was in the various decades.
Watched TV, played board games or cards, played video games (Magnavox Odyssey, later Atari 2600), read books.
In Dayton most stores closed at 8, some at 9. Most were closed on Sunday.
When my friends and I started driving we went to cruise-ins, which happened all over town. Still do, as far as I know. Dayton is the hot-rod capitol of the world after all. By the mid-1980s we got into illegal backroad races.
Me and my boyfriend would make runs to McDonaldās right before closing at 1045 pm. We played pool in his basement and listened to music or went to pro basketball games. We went to concerts and rode our bikes all over town. We didnāt go to the malls much but we did do movies quite often.
In the 70’s, Monday through Friday, stores were open from 9:00am until 9:00pm. On Sundays, Everything closed at 6:00pm on Sundays, except for some grocery stores. This was in North Carolina. I’m glad that that got changed, but normally, we’d play board games, or watch one of the 3 or sometimes 4 available channels. š
As a teen we gathered either outdoors or at someone’s house, blasted music using our turntable or radio, made and ate snacks, played games like Yatzee or gin rummy, smoked and maybe had a few beers. We’d also occasionally hit up the local pizza place, go to the movies or take a ride to the beach.
Cruised 8th Street/Mount Rushmore Road on Fri/Sat nights. It was like a mashup of “American Graffiti” and “Dazed & Confused”.
There were two downtown movie theaters and two drive-ins. All were popular. I recall a summer double feature of “Flesh Gordon”/”The Kentucky Fried Movie” at the Pines Drive-In.
The drinking age was (technically) 18 for 3.2 beer. We were patronizing one of the “3.2 bars” senior year – no one checked IDs there, or at the gas stations and stores that sold 3.2 beer.
Went to high school and the local college varsity games. Watched TV and played board games at each others’ homes.
The mall in Rapid opened when we were in high school – it wasn’t a huge place to socialize for us.
Arcades, movies, books, hanging out at friend’s houses… things that generally involved other people. Even books led to discussions since there weren’t so many publishing routes back then.
Malls were open until 9, so shopping and hanging out at the food court, going to the movies.. It was a golden age for being dropped off somewhere by your parents.
Small PA town, 1960ās. Blue laws.
Shops closed at 5; noon on Wednesday. First mall in the area opened in the 70s.
Before high school, fun was in the street. We played football in the street. We played hide and seek in the street. In winter, we rode our sleighs in the street. We were feral; we did āpranksā that today would land kids in juvie.
When I was in high school, fun was sports. Fun was cars, girls, hanging out at a burger shop. High school had bonfires during football season and Friday night dances during the off season. Senior year a dance club went under 21 from 8-1030. Thatās when I met MaryJane and her friends.
Summers were hanging out at the community pool. When I was old enough to drive, I traded the pool for the lake; one of the many small lakes that dot Northeast PA. The lake had a small sand beach, a pavilion with games and food, a floating dock, and so many people my age. On the weekend the pavilion backed a dance floor, complete with DJ.
Cruising the drag was pretty big for us. Then there were a couple underage discos open Friday and Saturdays. If there wasnāt a kegger going on weād head there.
Other than bars and clubs? Heck, I did a lot of fishing and crabbing. Searching beaches and shallows for clams, oysters and moon snails. Lots of hiking and camping. Etc.
In evenings and no going out doing one of the above, my wife and I both liked going to the skating rink, or bowling. At home there were many, many card and board games with either just us or with friends. We watched TV a little, but not a lot. We much preferred one of the other activities, especially with friends.
In fact we didn’t go to bars and clubs all that often. Probably once or twice a month. It was a lot more fun, in our opinion to invite one or two couples, friends, over on a Friday or a Saturday evening for drinks, games, and chat.
And I almost forgot … drive in movies. We loved those things. They were cheaper than going to a movie theatre. And while the snacks and drinks could be costly, we used to cheat the system. Boil or steam up bunch of hot dogs and stuff them in a thermos to stay warm. Maybe some heated chili in another thermos. Buns, mustard and such. Pop a bunch of popcorn and slather with butter. Add some candies of various sorts, stash in the trunk of the car so it wasn’t visible. Take along a pair of friends. Get your spot set up at the theatre. Then go and buy some sodas in the cups, so you had their cups if somebody was looking around. Slurp down half the drink and touch it up with some whiskey. Break out the food and you were good to go. IMHO, watching a big screen movie with an endless supply of hotdogs and popcorn was was the only way to go.
Got together with your friends, didn’t have to be a destination or even an activity, just hang out.
Get in a car with some friends, just ride around, no destination. At some point you knew some friends would be at the ice cream parlor or the hamburger joint.
Stay home, read, watch TV, do homework, maybe call your girlfriend and hope her dad wasn’t the one to answer the phone.
Walk a few blocks up because there’s a cute girl there and maybe this time she’ll let you kiss her.
And (something anyone born in the last 3 decades will never get to experience) getting a phone call, “Hey, Eli, get over here right now. I got the new _____ album and you gotta come hear it!”
Playing pinball at the bowling alley. Skating at Skateland. Hanging at the shopping malls. Bicycle riding. Playing football with the neighborhood kids. Tether ball. Cribbage. Anything outside with the neighborhood.
Parties. Lots of parties. If the weather was nice outside, there was always at least one party in some field or park. With a flatbed truck that had stereo equipment and kegs. If it was cold there were always parties at someoneās house or at some hall. We also drove around endlessly with lots of kids in the car. There was a drive-in that we would circle through several times a night to see and be seen. We went to a movie usually once a week, and stores were open until 9:00. We also went to concerts. At least once or twice a month. Lots of beer, and casual drugs.
Lots of us young folks would congregate on someone’s porch, or the steps of a public building in the square and hang out. Town cops would roust us occasionally, but most would leave us alone. When I say young, I mean 13, 14, maybe 16 years old.
Stores closed early except Thursday nights, they would stay open until 8 or 9. Some grocery stores stayed open until 7. Iām not sure when businessā started staying open on Sunday. I do remember one Sunday where we couldnāt use the car because dad didnāt get the tank filled on Saturday. This was around 1967 or 68
We had at least two 24-hour restaurants in the small city I lived in and others that stayed open til midnight. Nothing better on a summer night than walking up to the Whataburger for fries and a shake. Also, in highschool we had dances on Friday nights after football games. Nice memories.
We rode bikes, skateboarded, and played catch with a football as long as there was enough light. After dark we played hide and seek or just sat on the porch and socialized.
My friends and I would call for each other and walk around all night until our curfews. We sang lots of songs, sometimes the entire āTommyā album by The Who.
It really depended on where you lived. In a city, restaurants, movie theaters, discos and roller rinks were open after 6 pm. After the bars and clubs closed, it was off to the 24-hour diners for a wee hours breakfast. Or you might just go to the 24-hour grocery store. I miss those.
On weekends in the cities, there was usually a main drag that you could cruise. Everyone went there, so it might be bumper to bumper. Speed wasn’t the important thing, you were there to meet other people and exchange phone numbers.
But anywhere you went, there were places outside of town where folks went to shoot off bottle rockets or get up to less innocent things in the car.
Generally speaking you had Blue laws back in the 70s and before, most everything closed on Sunday. Most of those laws ended around 1980. Some but very few still restrict alcohol sales on Sunday. The big difference between now and 1970s is that there were way more bars and clubs. They all usually closed down at 2:00 am. (aka closing time). There were under 18 dance clubs back then, those usually closed at midnight and were typically only open Tuesday to Saturday night. Remember, the 70s were the era of disco clubs and skating rinks, bowling. Malls and arcades were also a big thing back in the 70s. Every mall had an arcade and every mall had a movie theater. They usually ran movies that catered to teenagers. There were things like Heavy Metal and Rocky Horror Picture Show that played every weekend night. Then there were all kinds of movies for teenagers. Something, maybe cable TV, video games or the Internet kinda killed all those things off.
Iām 59 and my aunt is 9 years older than I. There was a day in the summer of 1977 that I will NEVER forget. That night I saw Star Wars in my tight fitting nerd shorts and tube socks at the drive in. We got home to our place in queens and Iāve got to go to bed since itās late and Iām 12.
I wake up sometime later to my mother screaming at my stepdad and I come downstairs to them running around in a panic. āThereās been a shooting in bayside, weāre trying to find Barbā¦ā 1977 was the summer of Sam. My aunt was fine but she never left the house until he was apprehended. This was the most frightening thing I ever experienced.
We’d meet up at the usual neighborhood hangouts and figure out what to do from there. Shopping was the furthest thing from our minds unless it was to score weed or booze. Had many good times hanging out with friends, listening to music and shooting the shit.
I was a kid but playing hide and go seek, ghost in the grave yard, freeze and or flash light tag, statue and other games running around the neighborhood or just sitting outside telling g host stories or talking. Bd weather inside reading, playing board games, ldoing a latch hook or watching TV. Going to the movies, roller rink, going to the mall(opened till 9) walking to the dairy queen for a treat. I honestly don’t remember being bored that ofte as a kid. There was always something to do.
Malls were open until 9. I was in high school and college. We hung out at each other’s houses like in That 70’s show, we went bowling or roller skating, in college of course there were bars and parties.
What many young people don’t know is that the whole “come home when the streetlights come on” trope, while true, was only Phase 1 in the dinner/homework/play process. Depending on your age, you could live a whole ‘nother Phase 2 life after dinner!!
We used to spend a fair amount of time trying to find weed. This was small town northern Michigan, late 60s/early 70s, and there were always a few guys (always guys) who would sell you a baggie, but you had to know where to go.
Usually some old rented house out of town a ways. You’d drive over there, knock on the door, and he’d let you in, probably let you try some. There would be an album playing, maybe cooking going on.
So you’d score, get back in the car, mildly baked, and head back to your house, or somebody’s house that didn’t have adults. More weed, something to eat, some music.
Someone would suggest going outside, and then you’d wander around looking at whatever there was to see. Trees, where I was. Orchards. Lake Michigan.
That was what it was like: a lot of milling around trying to be checked out, more or less waiting for something to happen.
I was just a kid but drive-in theatres and arcades (pinball and video game) and bowling alleys were open quite late. Major shopping centers like malls were usually open until 9 or 10. Why close at 6 when most people get off work at 5?
As adults, we had get togethers or card games at each other’s homes. We went to movies and out to eat. Stores were open until 9:00 pm usually. I was married to a gear head so a lot of time was spent in garages, drinking beer and working on cars. We did night fishing, and just generally hung out. People were a lot more social back then.
I grew up in the country, COUNTRY, , so we only had two channels on TV until late in the 80’s. No movie theatres, restaurants, nothing.
We used to pull into a clearing in the woods with our cars, make a circle with our headlights, and dance and drink and hang out in the circle forever. If not that, I grew up on the Chesapeake Bay, so used to go to the beach, water ski, sail, (Everyone had a boat) and then make bonfires on the beach. We could dig up clams and oysters, and eat them right there or cook them in the bonfire.
PS- All of these activities involved a hell of a lot of Natty Boh beer.
Hang out at the mall, went to house parties, bush parties, beach partiesā¦ Went rollerskating, hung out at friends placesā¦ Went to movies, concerts, shows.
Yes – stores were often open until 9 PM on weekends if you needed to go shopping.
There were a lot of 24-hour restaurants too. We were very social – weād call each other, make plans, go for drives, hang out at the park. Pretty much anything we could think of we would do it.
Lol yes we could shop past 6pm. šš¤£ Stores were closed on Sundays in the early 70s. And when they did open. They were open maybe 1 till 6 on Sundays.
We lived too far out from town yo even think about going out at night. After dinner was homework, tv, hobbies, chores and , in the summer, playing outside with the neighbor kids.
There were little āpony kegsā or stores to buy beer when I was in high school. They never checked for IDs or would accept a fake. There were also small neighborhood bars where at 16 they would serve you draft beer for 25 cents.
In my country in the 70s shops closed at 1pm on a Saturday and reopened on Monday. There were no real malls and movie theaters tended to be single locations. So not much else to do besides eating, drinking and having fun.
Iām curious as to what prompted this question. What makes one think the 70ās was just a void after 6pm? What currently happens after 6pm that wouldnāt be happening then?
Driving. It wasn’t uncommon to go out “cruising” and maybe stopping at a drive in for a soda or burger. Obviously, you are looking to see who else is out. Or if you were in school, you studied.
Skating down at the roller rink. Bowling. Maybe catch a movie, and there was an ice cream parlor in the same strip mall as the closest movie house. There was a gaming/pinball arcade in town (kids played video games, like Asteroids or Space Invaders; the pinball players were mostly adults). The stores in the mall were probably open into the evening, unless it was Sunday. In this state, probably the only stores in the mall that was open on Sunday were restaurants and bookstores (only grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, and bookstores were open on Sundays in this state; the bookstores got a pass because, it was argued, someone might want to buy a Bible on a Sunday).
I worked at Sears in the mid 70s and other than Friday night, they closed at six. Most department stores were only open late (9) on Fridays. When 7 Eleven came along it was a big thing to have a store open that early and stay open that late.
We went to movies–we had drive-ins back then. Bowling. Skating rink. Amusement park. Or just driving around, stopping at your favorite drive-in periodically.
Stores often closed early many not open on Sunday and some not open all weekend.
As a teen in the 1970’s, HS Class of 76, we hung out at a local place called Zeeks foosball. A teen joint that had a snack bar, A small socializing area, foosball, pinball and early video games as they came out..
A bowling alley was another hang, they had a similar area as Zeeks did ,but with pool tables. Movie theaters were popular. Many had 99cent midnight movies on Fri & Sat
We also did street hangs where we would all park somewhere, one bowling alley was popular for that , and drink , socialize, listen to music with all the cars tuned to the same station
Outside that , watch the 70’s TV show, that basement hang in that series, obviously written by someone growing up in the 70’s. In my group of friends, we a had a garage hang and a basement hand in our rotation. Of course, we all found a TV to sit in front of when Sat Night Live would come on
In junior high school especially, we went to the roller rink — even into high school a bit.
I was in high school 1978 to 1982. We had dances in the auditorium, hung out at the mall, went to the movies. From the moment I turned 16, though, I spent most nights working at a grocery store.
My older brother got wasted and listened to music, and groups of his friends would drive to a local lake, get wasted, and listen to music.
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Played a lot of board games and cards
Would go riding around āthe dragā with my friends.Ā
Not really. Just late-night convenience stores.
Shared television watching was more of a thing. Most houses just had one television because they were bulky and expensive. There were three network channels and a couple community channels, so lots of people watched the same stuff and could talk about it. (More a 60s thing than 70s.)
Listen to albums and smoked herbs.
Record stores,head shops.The mall.
Baseball games.
70’s?: Trivial Pursuit
In NYC we’d go for Chinese food any time
There were department stores that were usually open until 9:00 pm. Sears or K-Mart and such. But as far as fun, we hung out with all the other neighborhood kids and played baseball or rode our bikes, or shot BB guns in the woods. Played in the creek, card games, board games, army men battles, watching TV shows, going to movies in theatres (Star Wars was 1977), drive-ins, and more. We were just more social in real life than only on the internet.
Stores were open until 9. They closed at 5 on sundays
I watched primetime TV from 7 PM to 10 PM. And then the 10 oāclock news.
The mall was open until 9.
We went to the movies.
We went bowling. Friday and Saturday you could rent lanes from midnight to 2am.
It was the heyday of the 24 hour diner here in New Jersey, so we could always grab a bite to eat.
Or we just hung out in someoneās basement.
We went cruising and to drive in movies!
Malls were generally open until 9 PM except on Sundays although they tended to discourage unsupervised teens from being there. There were movie theaters, both in and outside the mall. Hanging out in parking lots was popular until the local cops cracked down.
Grocery stores usually closed somewhere between 6 PM and 8PM. K-Mart, Zayre, Gibson’s and other early big box stores were open later, usually until 9 PM, sometimes 10 PM. 24 hour stores were relatively rare outside of major metro areas in the US.
Stores were mostly open until 9:00 or so. And malls were still popular.
Played in a band. Played D&D. Watched TV. Judo.
In my area (the beach cities of Los Angeles County,) most stores and malls were open until 9pm, except Sunday, when they closed at 6pm.
We watched tv shows, played cards or board games, did crafts, listened to music, baked treats, etc.
It was always fun to try to be the right caller to win a prize from a radio station, too.
Malls open to 9;
roller skate and ice rinks;
Boys Club sports on lighted fields; cub/boy scouts
Bunch of us would have telescopes and spend hours looking at sky. š Life was a lot of fun back then. Sorry you guys missed out ot it.
peace. š
The mall. Movies. Board games and cards.
I was still a teenager in the 70s, we walked around at night, most of the time with a bag of weed. When we saw someone or a group of people, we would offer to smoke a doob with them, and then just hung out and talked.
Or we would gather at a local point, where I lived it was a park where most teens in the area went at night.
The shopping malls were open until 9 p.m. Restaurants would close at 10 p.m. or later. We played outside, rode bikes all over town, went to our friends houses or they came to ours, especially in the summer. We watched our favorite TV shows when they aired- no way to view them later. If you missed an episode, you had to wait until summer reruns to see it.
Ā Play that brand new album you bought at the record store. Read a book. Play board or card games. Talk on the phone with a friend. Draw/paint. Try that new recipe.Experiment with the newest makeup, hairstyles, or nail polishes featured in your favorite teen fashion magazine. Sew that cute new outfit to wear to school a week from Monday. Just to name a few.
Only the convenience store or a drug store was open on sundays. Grocery shopping was done on Saturdays if there was no one home during the week. We had one lady in our neighbourhood with a vehicle, old school station wagon, we would pack Moms and kids into that. Grocery stores were closed by 7 pm. Theyāre opened at 9 am and banks were open from 10-3 M-F and from 10-12 on Saturday.
Shopping malls were new and I think they were open til 9:00. It was a fun thing to do.
we would go to the river bottoms and have a keg, a boom box and some weed, maybe some mushrooms or even electric cool aid and build a bonfire and dance, get stoned maybe skinny dip or pair off with a partner and and a blanket to go off in the woods
it was a simpler time but we made do
lol
A lot of it depended on how old you were. Before I could drive I would hang out with friends in the neighborhood. Had to be home when the streetlights came on. If there was a cute girl in the neighborhood you liked you might try and go chat her up on her front porch. After I was driving, a lot of the same, just moving. Swing by and pick up some friends and go cruising. Listening to music. I lived in a college town so we would go cruise the girls dorms and check the girls out. Week nights I had to be home by 10. Weekends it was midnight unless I was on a date and I got pre approved, then 1 or 2 depending on what I could swing.
Bong hits
I did homework and then became a teacher and marked homework.
We went to bed early because of school the next day
Go grab a pizza and go to the drive-in.
Video Arcades!
This was the early days of video game consoles. Asteroids, Centipede, Defender, Galaxian, Missile Command, etc.
These first showed up in Pizza Parlors and bars. Soon there was enough to have dedicated locations that had multiple consoles where kids hung out. They were in malls but also stand alone.
Cruise
Most big box stores and especially malls were open til 9. Small, local shops in downtown areas and shopping centers were the only ones that closed at 6. We went to skating rink, movies, bowling, Putt Putt, arcades, lots of hanging out at friend’s homes too. Watching TV, playing board games, cards, whatever.
More organized sports back then too. Rec ball wasn’t just for kids. Many businesses, civic clubs, churches etc fielded softball teams and played in organized leagues. My dad played for years. We’d go watch and see our other friends, play on the playgrounds at the parks etc. There was a sense of “You knew everybody and their spouses and their kids too” back then. You saw them all the time.
The same thing I did before 6pm,trying to become an unvirgin
Where I lived the stores closed at 6 pm, except 1 night a week when they stayed open until 9. I imagine the liquor store and at least 1 gas station stayed open later. Also our gas stations only had a few snacks, I think chips, soda and candy bars. Usually not air conditioned, so your chocolate might be soft. We had 2 bars and they were open late, maybe closed on Sunday though. So we went to sports practice, 4H or scouts after school. On Fridays we had high school games. Otherwise we ate dinner at home, then watched TV or read.
things normal folks did…tv, read, board games, sports, movies and the malls were opened till 9pm or 10 pm
Split and stacked firewood or something similar to be ready for winter. In the winter feed the wood stove and clean the dust and dirt from it.
I had little children then. I went to bed. I was pooped.
Small town evenings in the 70s meant football, basketball, baseball games at the school. Hanging out on the town square or in the neighborhood. Watching whatever was on television that night. Listening to the radio.
Just because there were no computers or cell phones doesn’t mean it was the fucking dark ages.
We lived by tv.
Weekdays we worked, ate dinner, went to sleep. Saturday we cleaned house, went out to dinner, movie. Sunday we did laundry, got ready for Monday. Shopping was grocery shopping unless there was something we absolutely needed. We would replace fun stuff on Saturday night with shopping for those necessities. Until 9:00pm.
In the summer we hung out at the parks.
Read lots of books. Played board games. Watched TV.
They had keg parties out in the woods, got drunk and smoked dirt weed and had sex in vans.
Iām a little too young to have the experience, but my mom went dancing a lot.
Watched TV
Imagine your home only had one internet connection, and one terminal to access it, and your entire family has to negotiate (fight to the death) what you’re going to surf to except there are 3 major websites and a couple small local ones.
Roller rink, movies, hang out with friends
I grew up in the Midwest. When I was younger it was outside until the street lights came on in the summer. I went everywhere on my bike. It was TV in the winter. When I got older it was movies, bowling, or the mall on Friday and Saturday nights.
Key parties
Shopping in the evening wasn’t something I did usually. Taking the car for a ride while listening to Bruce Springsteen full blast, windows down, smoking a cigarette, was a thing I did alone or with friends, especially in the summer. The car next to you had their music on, we enjoyed each other’s songs.
Teens and college students almost all had part time jobs.
Even in the 80ās most teens had part time jobs and it was not unusual at all for high school students to be closers at say fast food places getting home at like 11pm from their part time jobs! Same for college age people.
The other thing is TV. There were only like 3 or 4 channels so we all ended up watching the same shows and would go to school or work and everyone can talk about the same show from last night.
Adults would get together to play cards a lot. People would invite each other over more for dinner, cook outs.
Roller rinks and disco nights. Go karts.carnivals. Ride bikes.
We got together smoked pot and listened to vinyls
Malls were open until 10:00 pm, with arcades & food courts & movie theaters & restaurants. Bowling alleys, pool halls, roller skating/ice skating, & just hanging out at the local lake or park. The town hosted concerts on the common during the spring/summer/fall.
Road loading with my friends. Watch tv (whatever was the āItā show for that day of the week – like Happy Days or Movie of the Week), read, call friends and hang out on the phone)
I graduated from high school in 1980. I personally stayed home and read or did crafts on my own most evenings. My siblings usually played outside with neighborhood kids.
When I was in high school, I occasionally went to a party at a friend’s house, but that was only about once a month or so. Dating was usually going to a movie and maybe getting pizza afterwards.
We dropped a lot of acid.
Malls stayed open until 9 PM (usually) and were popularly used as a 3rd space.
Also read a lot, walked my dog, played with my cats, went to see movies in theaters.
Played a lot of pool and foosball
We used to hang out in a field or empty cul-de-sac in our community. This was an area where a lot of people owned lots but never built on them.
After 6pm? In the winter I would watch tv with my parents and siblings and while tv was on we would also work on jigsaws, or make popcorn on the stove. I enjoyed doing embroidery and making latch hook rugs while watching tv. In the summer kids were out until dark catching fireflies, listening to the radio, playing wiffle ball or tag. We stayed outside longer if it was really hot because hardly anyone had AC in those days. It was cooler to be outside. Lots of good memories.
Went to the Mall. Especially at Christmas time. Sometimes didn’t buy anything, just enjoy looking.
Go to the mall. Bowling, roller skating, ice skating. Walk-in or drive-in movies. Talk on the phone to a friend. Listen to music. Cruise up and down the main street of town. School dances, football and basketball games.
Stores near you close early? Wherever are you?
As a child and teen miniature golf was another silly past time
Twister, the game, indoors
Church activities for pre teens
Dances put on by the school several times a year, and proms in Junior and Senior year
High school we had plenty of after school programs, clubs, sports etc and buses that took us home at 6 pm
Sleepover parties, which involved more sleeping bags than sleep: board games, junk food, trying on makeup, giggling
Once we hit 16, we usually had part time jobs in the evening and full time in the summer
And dating! A meal, some activity and perhaps āParkingā in secluded areas, which involved āmaking outā for 6 months to a year before anything more sexual was broached in those pre-birth control Pill days
The mall closed at 9:00, cruising around the city, lots of group sleepovers.
Skate, bike, kickball, wall ball, hide and seek, board games, puzzles, chat with friends on the phone.
Stores did close earlier. I was a kid in the 70s, so playing, listening to music, reading, watching TV with my parents, etc.
Movies at a theater.
Watched TV.
Stores closed at 9pm but everything was closed on Sunday, except grocery stores and they were only open for certain purchases and up until like 3pm.
We rode the parking lot of the strip mall after it closed and on Fridayās and Saturday nights. We would drive in a big circle and every so often we would park inside the circle and sit on the cars and talk, listen to music, etc. this was when we were in high school.
We played neighborhood chase. Got a bunch of kids together and ran all through the neighborhood hiding anywhere and everywhere. It was so much fun especially after dark
Why would you go to the store for fun ? I only went if I needed something.
70’s – Hang out at friends places getting high.
Take drives. Sometimes high. We were dumb.
Movies. Taking long walks in the neighborhood. Go to a local arcade. Bike rides at night.
Basically hanging.
EDITED: Diners! Someone below reminded me. Just sit there eating fries and shoot the breeze.
Bars. Lots and lots of bars. And smoking weed
Pong and Atari
Mostly we got high and listened to music. Where I lived mostly had small businesses. I never went shopping at night.
Midnight movies – Rocky Horror Picture show or Rock and Roll movies – Song Remains the Same, Pink Floyd at Pompeii, The Kids Are Alright, Tommy, etc.
Can still shop after 6pm, unless it’s a Sunday
Go to Gold Circleā¦ store, and call friends out on their overhead speakers.
Also, high school football games
After 6pm, you watched network TV, or went to church if it was Sunday or Wednesday.
Played flashlight tag or danced under the streetlights
stores were open, as were movie theaters and especially drive-ins, (which were a big thing, āback in the dayā).
But, mostly broke, we made our own fun ā¦ flashlight tag, pool hopping, (not many pools around, so if there was one, weād sneak in and swim), catching fireflies and throwing stuff in the air to attract bats.
Talked to my friends on the phone.(land line of course)
Had plenty of sex…
FYI 24 hour grocery stores, and similar stores were much more of a thing back in the day. I’m recalling it being very common in the 80s, but also in the 80s and not 70s I was of an age where I sometimes wanted to go to the grocery store in the wee hours. Google AI just says that it started in the late 60s, but not really giving much as to how common it was in the various decades.
Before the 9-11 attacks, you could just go to an airport and hang out. It was one of the cheapest forms of entertainment around.
Watched TV, played board games or cards, played video games (Magnavox Odyssey, later Atari 2600), read books.
In Dayton most stores closed at 8, some at 9. Most were closed on Sunday.
When my friends and I started driving we went to cruise-ins, which happened all over town. Still do, as far as I know. Dayton is the hot-rod capitol of the world after all. By the mid-1980s we got into illegal backroad races.
We went to movies quite often… It was a great way to kill time, especially when you had to take public transit that wasn’t always on schedule…
We played in the streets till the street lights came on and mothers started calling us in for supper.
Me and my boyfriend would make runs to McDonaldās right before closing at 1045 pm. We played pool in his basement and listened to music or went to pro basketball games. We went to concerts and rode our bikes all over town. We didnāt go to the malls much but we did do movies quite often.
Mall
Cruised the main drag (street) in really cool cars.
Went fishing until dark.
This is highly geographical. NYC was the city that never sleeps before I was born.
In the 70’s, Monday through Friday, stores were open from 9:00am until 9:00pm. On Sundays, Everything closed at 6:00pm on Sundays, except for some grocery stores. This was in North Carolina. I’m glad that that got changed, but normally, we’d play board games, or watch one of the 3 or sometimes 4 available channels. š
As a teen we gathered either outdoors or at someone’s house, blasted music using our turntable or radio, made and ate snacks, played games like Yatzee or gin rummy, smoked and maybe had a few beers. We’d also occasionally hit up the local pizza place, go to the movies or take a ride to the beach.
Roof surfing on our cars
(High school/late 70s/Rapid City)
Cruised 8th Street/Mount Rushmore Road on Fri/Sat nights. It was like a mashup of “American Graffiti” and “Dazed & Confused”.
There were two downtown movie theaters and two drive-ins. All were popular. I recall a summer double feature of “Flesh Gordon”/”The Kentucky Fried Movie” at the Pines Drive-In.
The drinking age was (technically) 18 for 3.2 beer. We were patronizing one of the “3.2 bars” senior year – no one checked IDs there, or at the gas stations and stores that sold 3.2 beer.
Went to high school and the local college varsity games. Watched TV and played board games at each others’ homes.
The mall in Rapid opened when we were in high school – it wasn’t a huge place to socialize for us.
Arcades, movies, books, hanging out at friend’s houses… things that generally involved other people. Even books led to discussions since there weren’t so many publishing routes back then.
Who shopped at night?
Malls were open until 9, so shopping and hanging out at the food court, going to the movies.. It was a golden age for being dropped off somewhere by your parents.
Small PA town, 1960ās. Blue laws.
Shops closed at 5; noon on Wednesday. First mall in the area opened in the 70s.
Before high school, fun was in the street. We played football in the street. We played hide and seek in the street. In winter, we rode our sleighs in the street. We were feral; we did āpranksā that today would land kids in juvie.
When I was in high school, fun was sports. Fun was cars, girls, hanging out at a burger shop. High school had bonfires during football season and Friday night dances during the off season. Senior year a dance club went under 21 from 8-1030. Thatās when I met MaryJane and her friends.
Summers were hanging out at the community pool. When I was old enough to drive, I traded the pool for the lake; one of the many small lakes that dot Northeast PA. The lake had a small sand beach, a pavilion with games and food, a floating dock, and so many people my age. On the weekend the pavilion backed a dance floor, complete with DJ.
Raced cars and motorcycles, toilet papered houses.
We would go bird hunting after school or work pretty much anytime in what is now Addison, Tx. Grain fields everywhere.
Really no different than now.
Cruising the drag was pretty big for us. Then there were a couple underage discos open Friday and Saturdays. If there wasnāt a kegger going on weād head there.
We also went to concerts.
In the 1970s I was in my 20s.
Other than bars and clubs? Heck, I did a lot of fishing and crabbing. Searching beaches and shallows for clams, oysters and moon snails. Lots of hiking and camping. Etc.
In evenings and no going out doing one of the above, my wife and I both liked going to the skating rink, or bowling. At home there were many, many card and board games with either just us or with friends. We watched TV a little, but not a lot. We much preferred one of the other activities, especially with friends.
In fact we didn’t go to bars and clubs all that often. Probably once or twice a month. It was a lot more fun, in our opinion to invite one or two couples, friends, over on a Friday or a Saturday evening for drinks, games, and chat.
And I almost forgot … drive in movies. We loved those things. They were cheaper than going to a movie theatre. And while the snacks and drinks could be costly, we used to cheat the system. Boil or steam up bunch of hot dogs and stuff them in a thermos to stay warm. Maybe some heated chili in another thermos. Buns, mustard and such. Pop a bunch of popcorn and slather with butter. Add some candies of various sorts, stash in the trunk of the car so it wasn’t visible. Take along a pair of friends. Get your spot set up at the theatre. Then go and buy some sodas in the cups, so you had their cups if somebody was looking around. Slurp down half the drink and touch it up with some whiskey. Break out the food and you were good to go. IMHO, watching a big screen movie with an endless supply of hotdogs and popcorn was was the only way to go.
Skating, movies, mall. Beach night.
Got together with your friends, didn’t have to be a destination or even an activity, just hang out.
Get in a car with some friends, just ride around, no destination. At some point you knew some friends would be at the ice cream parlor or the hamburger joint.
Stay home, read, watch TV, do homework, maybe call your girlfriend and hope her dad wasn’t the one to answer the phone.
Walk a few blocks up because there’s a cute girl there and maybe this time she’ll let you kiss her.
And (something anyone born in the last 3 decades will never get to experience) getting a phone call, “Hey, Eli, get over here right now. I got the new _____ album and you gotta come hear it!”
Playing pinball at the bowling alley. Skating at Skateland. Hanging at the shopping malls. Bicycle riding. Playing football with the neighborhood kids. Tether ball. Cribbage. Anything outside with the neighborhood.
I was a child but I know for damn sure that my Moms was on the phone talking to everyone. I was outside playing in the neighborhood
We drove around town seeing who we could see also driving around town and pulling over to talk.
Parties. Lots of parties. If the weather was nice outside, there was always at least one party in some field or park. With a flatbed truck that had stereo equipment and kegs. If it was cold there were always parties at someoneās house or at some hall. We also drove around endlessly with lots of kids in the car. There was a drive-in that we would circle through several times a night to see and be seen. We went to a movie usually once a week, and stores were open until 9:00. We also went to concerts. At least once or twice a month. Lots of beer, and casual drugs.
Lots of us young folks would congregate on someone’s porch, or the steps of a public building in the square and hang out. Town cops would roust us occasionally, but most would leave us alone. When I say young, I mean 13, 14, maybe 16 years old.
Movies mainly. My best friend at the time had a car so sometimes we’d go on drives up the coast. Santa Barbara, Solvang. But mainly movies.
Stores closed early except Thursday nights, they would stay open until 8 or 9. Some grocery stores stayed open until 7. Iām not sure when businessā started staying open on Sunday. I do remember one Sunday where we couldnāt use the car because dad didnāt get the tank filled on Saturday. This was around 1967 or 68
Roller rink, mall, arcade
Mid 70ās drinking age in MN was18. Spent a lot of time with friends in clubs dancing.
We would go out crusing. Had several places to hang out. Go to a kegger,drive in movies and just hang out with friends and listen to some record’s.
Cruze main Street and drink beer!
Cards with friends and family. Board games. Partying on the weekend.
Play tennis and basketball at lighted parks. Drove around uptown, circling over and over again.
Hanging out at the park. Hanging out a someone house, usually who ever had parents that were out.
Lived in Ft Lauderdale, would go watch the submarine races, down at the beach.
My parents went to friendās houses to play cards
We had at least two 24-hour restaurants in the small city I lived in and others that stayed open til midnight. Nothing better on a summer night than walking up to the Whataburger for fries and a shake. Also, in highschool we had dances on Friday nights after football games. Nice memories.
We rode bikes, skateboarded, and played catch with a football as long as there was enough light. After dark we played hide and seek or just sat on the porch and socialized.
My friends and I would call for each other and walk around all night until our curfews. We sang lots of songs, sometimes the entire āTommyā album by The Who.
In the 70s my fun post 6pm was winding the kids down for bedtime. Once they were in bed I got to put my feet up and read a book.
Watch TV, read a book, play a board game, put together Legos.
It really depended on where you lived. In a city, restaurants, movie theaters, discos and roller rinks were open after 6 pm. After the bars and clubs closed, it was off to the 24-hour diners for a wee hours breakfast. Or you might just go to the 24-hour grocery store. I miss those.
On weekends in the cities, there was usually a main drag that you could cruise. Everyone went there, so it might be bumper to bumper. Speed wasn’t the important thing, you were there to meet other people and exchange phone numbers.
But anywhere you went, there were places outside of town where folks went to shoot off bottle rockets or get up to less innocent things in the car.
stores closed at 6pm and then downtown was dead. there was no internet
nothing was open 24 hours back then
and television shut off at 2am. you could listen to the radio but it was just a prerecorded playlist. boring times if you don’t drink
Generally speaking you had Blue laws back in the 70s and before, most everything closed on Sunday. Most of those laws ended around 1980. Some but very few still restrict alcohol sales on Sunday. The big difference between now and 1970s is that there were way more bars and clubs. They all usually closed down at 2:00 am. (aka closing time). There were under 18 dance clubs back then, those usually closed at midnight and were typically only open Tuesday to Saturday night. Remember, the 70s were the era of disco clubs and skating rinks, bowling. Malls and arcades were also a big thing back in the 70s. Every mall had an arcade and every mall had a movie theater. They usually ran movies that catered to teenagers. There were things like Heavy Metal and Rocky Horror Picture Show that played every weekend night. Then there were all kinds of movies for teenagers. Something, maybe cable TV, video games or the Internet kinda killed all those things off.
Iām 59 and my aunt is 9 years older than I. There was a day in the summer of 1977 that I will NEVER forget. That night I saw Star Wars in my tight fitting nerd shorts and tube socks at the drive in. We got home to our place in queens and Iāve got to go to bed since itās late and Iām 12.
I wake up sometime later to my mother screaming at my stepdad and I come downstairs to them running around in a panic. āThereās been a shooting in bayside, weāre trying to find Barbā¦ā 1977 was the summer of Sam. My aunt was fine but she never left the house until he was apprehended. This was the most frightening thing I ever experienced.
We’d meet up at the usual neighborhood hangouts and figure out what to do from there. Shopping was the furthest thing from our minds unless it was to score weed or booze. Had many good times hanging out with friends, listening to music and shooting the shit.
In this town thereās two things to do, and you donāt look much like a fighterā¦
Mutual of Omahaās Wild Kingdom.
I was a kid but playing hide and go seek, ghost in the grave yard, freeze and or flash light tag, statue and other games running around the neighborhood or just sitting outside telling g host stories or talking. Bd weather inside reading, playing board games, ldoing a latch hook or watching TV. Going to the movies, roller rink, going to the mall(opened till 9) walking to the dairy queen for a treat. I honestly don’t remember being bored that ofte as a kid. There was always something to do.
When I was a kid there were no stores open on Sundays. It was called ā blue lawsā.
That is one reason we had so many kidsā¦
We watched tv and smoked cannabis.
They only closed at 6 p.m. on Sundays.
We went to the mall every Friday and Saturday night. They were open until nine or ten (can’t remember which).
Stores in strip shopping centers closed at 9 or 10.
Malls were open until 9. I was in high school and college. We hung out at each other’s houses like in That 70’s show, we went bowling or roller skating, in college of course there were bars and parties.
Skunk hunt.
Backyard band parties were big.
My boyfriend made me spaghetti dinners with salad and then we made out on his bean bag chair while listening to records. It was awesome.
From small town Iowa. Went fishing, played bball pickup games, drove around the endless gravel roads listening to 8 tracks and smoking harsh weed.
Hang out at the mall or go to the movies.
Watched tv with my parents.
I remember stores were closed on Sunday
What many young people don’t know is that the whole “come home when the streetlights come on” trope, while true, was only Phase 1 in the dinner/homework/play process. Depending on your age, you could live a whole ‘nother Phase 2 life after dinner!!
Smoke up. Hit Nation’s Burgers in Oakland.
Read, watched television, went to Mensa meetings (usually involving beer).
We used to spend a fair amount of time trying to find weed. This was small town northern Michigan, late 60s/early 70s, and there were always a few guys (always guys) who would sell you a baggie, but you had to know where to go.
Usually some old rented house out of town a ways. You’d drive over there, knock on the door, and he’d let you in, probably let you try some. There would be an album playing, maybe cooking going on.
So you’d score, get back in the car, mildly baked, and head back to your house, or somebody’s house that didn’t have adults. More weed, something to eat, some music.
Someone would suggest going outside, and then you’d wander around looking at whatever there was to see. Trees, where I was. Orchards. Lake Michigan.
That was what it was like: a lot of milling around trying to be checked out, more or less waiting for something to happen.
Watch TV with family. Listen to rock music in my room. Hangout outside with friends, drinking beer and smoking pot.
Roller skating, bowling. School ball games. School dances. Slumber parties. All when a teen.
I was just a kid but drive-in theatres and arcades (pinball and video game) and bowling alleys were open quite late. Major shopping centers like malls were usually open until 9 or 10. Why close at 6 when most people get off work at 5?
As adults, we had get togethers or card games at each other’s homes. We went to movies and out to eat. Stores were open until 9:00 pm usually. I was married to a gear head so a lot of time was spent in garages, drinking beer and working on cars. We did night fishing, and just generally hung out. People were a lot more social back then.
I grew up in the country, COUNTRY, , so we only had two channels on TV until late in the 80’s. No movie theatres, restaurants, nothing.
We used to pull into a clearing in the woods with our cars, make a circle with our headlights, and dance and drink and hang out in the circle forever. If not that, I grew up on the Chesapeake Bay, so used to go to the beach, water ski, sail, (Everyone had a boat) and then make bonfires on the beach. We could dig up clams and oysters, and eat them right there or cook them in the bonfire.
PS- All of these activities involved a hell of a lot of Natty Boh beer.
Hang out at the mall, went to house parties, bush parties, beach partiesā¦ Went rollerskating, hung out at friends placesā¦ Went to movies, concerts, shows.
Yes – stores were often open until 9 PM on weekends if you needed to go shopping.
There were a lot of 24-hour restaurants too. We were very social – weād call each other, make plans, go for drives, hang out at the park. Pretty much anything we could think of we would do it.
We converted the coal bin in the basement to be a card playing area.
stuff shut up early
people sat around watching the same 3 TV channels
Lol yes we could shop past 6pm. šš¤£ Stores were closed on Sundays in the early 70s. And when they did open. They were open maybe 1 till 6 on Sundays.
We lived too far out from town yo even think about going out at night. After dinner was homework, tv, hobbies, chores and , in the summer, playing outside with the neighbor kids.
There were little āpony kegsā or stores to buy beer when I was in high school. They never checked for IDs or would accept a fake. There were also small neighborhood bars where at 16 they would serve you draft beer for 25 cents.
The mall was open until 9 in the ’70’s. I worked every M, W, and F night from 4:15-9:15 and 9:15-4:15 on Saturdays while going to school.
Roller rink.
In my country in the 70s shops closed at 1pm on a Saturday and reopened on Monday. There were no real malls and movie theaters tended to be single locations. So not much else to do besides eating, drinking and having fun.
Iām curious as to what prompted this question. What makes one think the 70ās was just a void after 6pm? What currently happens after 6pm that wouldnāt be happening then?
We’d saddle horses and rope steers until dark.
Driving. It wasn’t uncommon to go out “cruising” and maybe stopping at a drive in for a soda or burger. Obviously, you are looking to see who else is out. Or if you were in school, you studied.
Skating down at the roller rink. Bowling. Maybe catch a movie, and there was an ice cream parlor in the same strip mall as the closest movie house. There was a gaming/pinball arcade in town (kids played video games, like Asteroids or Space Invaders; the pinball players were mostly adults). The stores in the mall were probably open into the evening, unless it was Sunday. In this state, probably the only stores in the mall that was open on Sunday were restaurants and bookstores (only grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, and bookstores were open on Sundays in this state; the bookstores got a pass because, it was argued, someone might want to buy a Bible on a Sunday).
I worked at Sears in the mid 70s and other than Friday night, they closed at six. Most department stores were only open late (9) on Fridays. When 7 Eleven came along it was a big thing to have a store open that early and stay open that late.
We went to movies–we had drive-ins back then. Bowling. Skating rink. Amusement park. Or just driving around, stopping at your favorite drive-in periodically.
We played outside, played a lot of sports , board games, played with toys and neighbors. Rode bikes a lot and went to the beach.
Stores often closed early many not open on Sunday and some not open all weekend.
As a teen in the 1970’s, HS Class of 76, we hung out at a local place called Zeeks foosball. A teen joint that had a snack bar, A small socializing area, foosball, pinball and early video games as they came out..
A bowling alley was another hang, they had a similar area as Zeeks did ,but with pool tables. Movie theaters were popular. Many had 99cent midnight movies on Fri & Sat
We also did street hangs where we would all park somewhere, one bowling alley was popular for that , and drink , socialize, listen to music with all the cars tuned to the same station
Outside that , watch the 70’s TV show, that basement hang in that series, obviously written by someone growing up in the 70’s. In my group of friends, we a had a garage hang and a basement hand in our rotation. Of course, we all found a TV to sit in front of when Sat Night Live would come on
Late 70s Medium-sized Oregon town – pizza joint with some arcade games and some loud music.
In junior high school especially, we went to the roller rink — even into high school a bit.
I was in high school 1978 to 1982. We had dances in the auditorium, hung out at the mall, went to the movies. From the moment I turned 16, though, I spent most nights working at a grocery store.
My older brother got wasted and listened to music, and groups of his friends would drive to a local lake, get wasted, and listen to music.