'Color TV, Rolling Luggage, Ranch Dressing': Old people share inventions that didn't exist when they were kids

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Jun 13, 2025 8:00 PM EDT

Every generation has an invention that their kids won't believe they once lived without. I think that my future children will be shocked to learn that iPhones and iPads were introduced when I was in elementary school. I remember a kid in my 4th-grade class talking about getting an iPad and thinking it was the darndest thing. My kids are probably going to be pretty shocked that I got through high school and college before the invention of generative AI. I'll be sure to hold that over their heads when they start complaining about their homework. 

Some inventions become so pervasive and seemingly "timeless" that people who were born after they came out can't even wrap their minds around the idea that there was once a world without them. There was a time when the world didn't have Velcro. The size of the modern bottled water industry was inconceivable in the 70s and 80s. TV used to close at the end of the day.

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  • If you want to know about life before microwaves, it's best to ask the people who were there! Some older individuals took to the internet to share inventions whose genesis they vividly recall.

  • 01

    What is something young people don't realize didn't exist when you were younger?

    My dad once mentioned how he remembered when his family got their first microwave. Huh??? I thought those were invented in like the 40s!
    via u/friendlylobotomist
  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10516811776
    via Annie Spratt

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 03
    Mairon 12 Rolling luggage.
    via u/Mairon12
  • 04
    Monkeydoodless Bottled water
    via u/Monkeydoodless
  • 05
    WaltCollins Remote control for the TV
    via u/WaltCollins
  • 06
    Chateaudelait Also remember when things first become available they are not affordable for everyone. I typed my college term papers on a typewriter from 1985-1990 because even though computers were available- not everyone had their own. Labs on campus charged a lot to use them- any any department PC one could use were booked solid.
    via u/Chateaudelait
  • 07
    RedditSkippy I know that younger people know that the internet hasn't been around forever. But I don't think they always understand how much the internet brought the world to our fingertips, and how much of that we take that for granted nowadays.
    via u/RedditSkippy
  • 08
    Heck, sometimes even I forgot how it was before the internet-before smartphones. I was thinking of a trip we took in the 80s and how we got caught in absolutely abysmal traffic. We were hours late arriving. I was idly thinking "Why didn't we just call them from the road...oh right we would have had to get off the highway and find a pay phone."
    via u/RedditSkippy
  • 09
    CharlesAvlnchGreen I remember exiting the freeway to make those phone calls. Often because I got lost, to tell them I'd be late and then asking them for directions from wherever I was.
    via u/CharlesAvlnchGreen
  • 10
    Puzzleheaded-Post958 Scanners at the grocery store.
    via u/Puzzleheaded-Post958
  • 11
    R on DEPARTMENT B-D FEVER THERMOMETERS ECONOMIZE TIME AND MONEY 998 00.00 SCHICK Steel STAINLESS KRONA RAZOR BLADES 89 CK Gillette STAINLESS STEEL 98 SCHICK Stainless Steel SCHICK Stainless Steel NECTOR 7 98 98 PERSONNA PAL STAINLESS STEEL PERSONNA OFFICE HEME SCHICK •100 PRESCRIPTION LISTERINE LISTER LISTERINE INE LISTERINE LISTER 59 59 Well KEN SCHICK Sta Cepacol FLEET ENEMA FLEET FLEET FLEET ENEMA NEMA Senoko VIGN ENEMA FLEET FLEET ENEMA ENEMA FLEET ENEMA AL-CAROIDOT SE ENO Sucary! alox Maalo
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 12
    slaytician Cupholders in cars. You drank your coffee at home, at work or coffee shops. Also, people just didn't walk around with food and drink all day.
    via u/slaytician
  • 13
    Realistic-Bass2107 Windows that you had to roll down in the vehicle and we had two keys, one for the trunk and one to put in the ignition.
    via u/Realistic-Bass2107
  • 14
    newleaf9110 Having more than one car. When Dad drove to work, we stayed home all day.
    via u/newleaf9110
  • 15
    Human_2468 I heard a recording of a great aunt explaining why Wash Day took a full day. Bring the water from the river, heat it on the stove, wash the clothes, and hang them out to dry. She was very glad when the electric washing machines came out. It only took several hours instead of all day.
    via u/Human_2468
  • 16
    madame_de_la_luna ATMs. We used to have to plan ahead and go to the bank during business hours. If you forgot to get cash before the weekend, you were pretty much screwed until Monday. Also, VCRs. If you missed the show when it aired, you had to wait for the summer reruns.
    via u/madame_de_la_luna
  • 17
    Blibrin Color TV
    via u/Blibrin
  • 18
    trelene Ranch dressing.
    via u/trelene
  • 19
    CharlesAvlnchGreen Up until the mid 1990s, most grocery stores didn't accept credit or debit cards. Cash and checks only. I remember the controversy when one big chain (QFC, now a part of Kroger) announced they'd accept cards. People worried that folks would go broke running up unaffordable credit card bills by putting grocery purchases on them.
    via u/CharlesAvlnchGreen
  • 20
    deereddit6162 Inexpensive calculators
    via u/deereddit6162
  • 21
    Birdy304 Backpacks for school kids. We just carried our books in our arms, really!
    via u/Birdy304
  • 22
    Cheezburger Image 10516812544
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 23
    captainbeautylover63 24-hour TV
    via u/captainbeautylover63
  • 24
    Hopeful-Occasion469 Air conditioning in vehicles (otherwise known as windows). Starbucks or similar coffee places. Girls sports in high schools
    via u/Hopeful-Occasion469
  • 25
    OneLaneHwy I still remember the first time I read about this newfangled adhesive device with the weird name of velcro.
    via u/OneLaneHwy
  • 26
    porcelainvacation Ziploc bags, Chicken McNuggets
    via u/porcelainvacation
  • 27
    halfinthebox2009 Direct deposit, back in the day everyone got paid by paper check on Friday that needed to be cashed at a bank. Imagine all the people in line at the same time on Friday, could very easily be an hour to get your check cashed!!!
    via u/halfinthebox2009
  • 28
    Turbulent-Name-8349 Fax machines.
    via u/Turbulent-Name-8349

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Tags

50s 1990s childhood memory 60s childhood 1950s nostalgia Nostalgia Overload 80s invention 90s old people 1970s inventions 1960s 1980s 20th Century
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