For many American families, the 1960s brought movie nights in cars, living-room television events, handwritten notes and social rituals organized around records and phones. But “don’t exist anymore” is too absolute: some customs faded, some changed with technology, and several objects—from vinyl records to bell-bottoms—remain available today. These are 20 examples from a U.S.-centered nostalgia list, not experiences shared by every family or community.
Entertainment that moved out of the living room—or changed form
1. Drive-in movie nights
Drive-ins made a night at the movies an outing conducted from the family car. The format is less central to moviegoing than it once was, but it has not vanished; outdoor screenings and drive-in theaters still exist in some places. The available account does not establish how many theaters operated in the 1960s or how common they were, so this is best understood as a recognizable period setting, not a universal family routine.
2. Dancing to a jukebox
A jukebox let people choose music in a shared public space, turning a selection of songs into part of a social evening. Digital playlists have changed how music is selected and heard, but jukeboxes have not disappeared entirely. The claim that this was a routine activity for a typical family is not established.
3. Soda fountains
Soda fountains were counters and gathering places where customers could order drinks and spend time together. They are less prominent than the broad mid-century image suggests, but fountain counters and soda shops still operate. The original list does not provide evidence for a precise measure of their reach or decline.
4. Watching The Ed Sullivan Show
When the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, the Smithsonian National Postal Museum reports that 73 million television viewers watched. That figure describes the audience for that broadcast, not the number of Beatles fans or a regular weekly audience. The era’s shared, scheduled broadcast viewing has changed substantially as television options multiplied and viewing became less tied to one program and time.
5. Listening to vinyl records
Families could listen to LPs and singles on a record player, often choosing and replaying the music themselves. The format did not disappear: vinyl records and players remain available. What changed is the place records occupy in everyday listening, as music can now also be accessed through digital services and portable devices. The source does not support specific claims about 1960s record prices or how many households owned a player.
6. Watching the Moon landing
Watching the first crewed Moon landing on television in 1969 could turn a major news event into a shared household occasion. That particular broadcast cannot recur, though people can still watch recordings and later coverage. The original list offers no audience figure for this item, so it should not be assigned one here.
Clothes and styles that recur rather than vanish
7. Wearing go-go boots
Go-go boots became a conspicuous fashion image of the decade. Their popularity as a defining style belongs to its historical setting, but the boots themselves have not disappeared: fashion can revive or reinterpret an older look.
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8. Wearing bell-bottoms
Bell-bottom trousers were associated with 1960s style, but the garment is not extinct. Flared trousers continue to return in changing forms, so the more accurate distinction is between a period fashion’s prominence and the continued existence of the clothing.
9. Wearing tie-dye
Tie-dye became closely associated with 1960s counterculture, but the technique and shirts made with it remain familiar. A style can carry the memory of a particular movement without belonging only to that period.
Politics, domestic life and changing social norms
10. Attending peace protests
Peace protests were one visible part of the decade’s political life. Protesting has not disappeared; the causes, participants and forms of organizing change over time. The source does not establish how many people attended protests or how representative these events were of Americans as a whole.
11. Going to Tupperware parties
A Tupperware party brought product demonstration and social visiting together in a home. The model is a distinctive form of direct selling, but the original list does not substantiate claims about how often parties took place or how many households participated. It is more accurate to treat it as a recognizable domestic-commerce custom than as something every family did.
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12. Smoking indoors
Indoor smoking was more socially accepted in many settings than it is today, but it was not an era without public-health warnings. On January 11, 1964, U.S. Surgeon General Luther L. Terry released the first Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee report on smoking and health. The committee concluded that cigarette smoking caused lung and laryngeal cancer in men, was a probable cause of lung cancer in women, and was the most important cause of chronic bronchitis. Congress later required health warnings on cigarette packages through the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965 and banned cigarette advertising on broadcast media through the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act of 1969. The changing norms around smoking therefore unfolded during the decade, rather than beginning only after it.
13. Collecting S&H Green Stamps
Green Stamps were a retail promotion that shoppers could collect and redeem for goods. They belong to a different consumer environment from today’s digital loyalty programs, but the comparison should not imply that every shop or household used them. The original account supplies no independently established participation figure or national prevalence rate.
14. Driving muscle cars
Muscle cars became an enduring image of American car culture in the 1960s. The cars and the enthusiasm for them have not vanished, though the automotive landscape and the role of performance cars have changed. The list does not establish how common ownership was among families, so it should not be read as a claim that most parents drove one.
15. Living in communes
Communal living was one alternative lifestyle associated with parts of the decade’s counterculture. It was never a synonym for ordinary American household life, and the source does not substantiate how many people lived this way. Communal households still exist in varied forms; the specific social context of the 1960s is what has passed.
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16. Using typewriters
Typewriters were tools for producing formal documents and correspondence before personal computers became common. They have not ceased to exist, but most everyday writing now happens on computers and phones. Their former role in offices and homes is more accurately described as displaced than extinct.
17. Writing handwritten letters
People used handwritten letters to communicate across distance when a phone call was not the chosen or practical option. Letters still get written, but messaging and email have made them less central to routine communication. The original list does not establish a particular rate of decline or imply that handwritten correspondence has ended.
18. Using rotary phones
Rotary phones required callers to turn a dial for each number, unlike the touchscreens and keypads common now. The design is largely obsolete for everyday service, but rotary-style phones still exist as antiques, collectibles or decorative objects. A surviving handset is not necessarily a working telephone compatible with current networks.
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19. Making Jell-O molds
Gelatin molds were a recognizable part of mid-century entertaining and home cooking. They have not disappeared from kitchens or cookbooks, but they no longer carry the same default place in many people’s picture of a party table. The source gives no basis for a claim about how many families made them.
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A sock hop was a school or community dance where attendees removed their shoes, traditionally to protect a polished floor. The named event is strongly associated with an earlier youth culture and is less familiar as a routine social fixture today, though retro dances and school events can still borrow the format. The list does not establish how widespread sock hops were across the decade.
What the list says—and does not say—about the 1960s
These examples span entertainment, fashion, politics, shopping, food and communication, rather than describing one shared national experience. Their status differs: the Ed Sullivan broadcast and first Moon landing are historical events; indoor smoking changed amid clear public-health findings and legislation; and records, handwritten letters, bell-bottoms and rotary-style phones persist in altered or less common forms.
The examples are best read as prompts for remembering how everyday life could be organized, not as proof that every American family followed the same routines. Apart from the Beatles broadcast audience and the documented smoking timeline, the source behind the list does not establish the prevalence, cost or frequency of most practices.
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