Fads by their definition are transitory events or trends, and the Baby Boomer generation experienced lots of them.
24/7 Tempo has compiled a list of styles that only Baby Boomers remember. We consulted various cultural websites as sources.
Baby Boomers were the generation born between 1946 and 1964. By the time the boom ended, there were 76.4 million Baby Boomers in the United States, making up almost 40% of the nation’s population. Such a large cohort was bound to have an economic, political, and social impact on the country, and it has.
As they matured, Boomers’ tastes in fashion, music, movies, television, social relationships could sometimes be capricious.
Certain behaviors or pastimes were cause for furrowed brows. Why would anyone own a pet rock, the brainchild of an ad executive? Streaking — racing nude through a building, a sporting event, or most famously during the Academy Awards in 1974 — was explained away as a spasm of the counterculture, a gesture by the nation’s youth angry at the Nixon administration.
Before social media there were CB radios that were used by truckers and eventually picked up by those searching for a wider community. Instant cameras such as the Polaroid Swinger (sold between 1965 and 1970) were popular with younger people, but the sales declined because the quality of photos was lacking.
Disco was a meteoric music trend whose influence extended into movies (“Saturday Night Fever”) and fashion (leisure suits and platform shoes). Roller disco parties were a thing on Friday nights.
In terms of transportation, before you got your driver’s license, you rode a banana-seat bicycle and you probably inserted baseball cards in the bike’s spokes. Your first car might have had carpeting on the dashboard. Your family’s car could have been a station wagon featuring wood paneling. (Want more stories about baby boomers? Click here for things baby boomers say that no one else understands.)
Streaking
Elizabeth Taylor laughing after a man streaked — as in ran naked — across the stage at the 1974 Academy Awards ceremony.
Earth shoes
Earth shoes being modeled in 1985.
Earth shoes were popular footwear in the 1970s in keeping with the environmental movement.
Using CB radios
Close up of a black CB radio.
Before there was social media, CB radios, used by truckers to get information about traffic, became popular among the general public.
Putting baseball cards in bicycle spokes
A fad among kids was putting baseball cards in the spokes of their bikes for the rattling sound they made.
Putting all kinds of food in Jell-O
People put all manner of foods inside the gelatinous creation.
Riding a banana-seat bicycle
A Schwinn banana seat.
A banana seat was common on bicycles ridden by Baby Boomers.
Using a Walkman
Walkmans allowed young people to take their music with them.
Playing cassettes
Another way to take your music with you was via cassette, which had its own player in some cars.
Playing 8-tracks
The Kinks-Size 8 track in an 8 track player on display.
8-tracks were popular among Baby Boomers until CDs dominated the music market.
Putting carpeting on car’s dashboards
A blue 1966 ford custom 4 door parked on a sunny day.
Young buyers of used Ford models would sometimes put carpeting over the dashboard.
Wood-paneled station wagons
A parked station wagon with wood paneling.
Wood paneling was a desired feature among car buyers in the 1960s and 1970s.
Instant cameras
A white Polaroid Swinger Model 20 on display.
The Polaroid Swinger camera was one of the company’s biggest-selling products in many markets in the late 1960s.
Drinking water from a hose
If kids got thirsty, a garden hose was a handy, if not the most sanitary, source for water.
Disco
Disco groups like Lipps, Inc. were big in the 1970s.
Caring for pet rocks
The Pet Rock Pet Carrier, which doubled as its packaging.
The pet rock was a novelty gift in 1975 that sold for $3.95 and the fad lasted about six months.
Platform shoes
Platform shoes were a must-have for fashionistas in the 1970s.
Davy Crockett coonskin hats
A still from the 1966 television show Daniel Boone.
Coonskin hats were popular among kids because of TV series starring Fess Parker as Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone.
Trying to solve Rubik’s Cube
Baby Boomers spent hours trying to figure out a Rubik’s Cube.
Roller disco parties
People skating under a disco ball at a roller disco.
Roller disco combined roller skating and disco music.
Leggings
A woman modeling white leggings under a green and white dress. She pairs the outfit with a red purse and red shoes.
Leggings were brightly colored in the 1970s.