After the widespread devastation and carnage wrought by World War II, the silent and greatest generations set about having as many kids as possible. Starting in the 1950s came the baby boomer generation, one of the largest generations in modern history and one that has defined much of the world’s current landscape. What’s more, many things specifically define baby boomers.
Born in a time of great economic prosperity and technological progress, the baby boomer generation was unique in their specific outlook on life and cultural rhetoric. This led to massive cultural uprisings such as the 1960s countercultural movement and its subsequent backlash. Nevertheless, baby boomers grew up in a specific time and place and still retain many aspects of that lifestyle. In this article, we will explore 20 things that define baby boomers.
To compile a list of 20 things that define baby boomers, 24/7 Tempo consulted a range of entertainment and lifestyle publications. Next, we selected a range of habits, outdated technologies, and characteristics of the baby boomer generation. After that, we consulted several news and historical sites to confirm specific information. (For more baby boomers stories, click here to slang and phrases only baby boomers understand.)
Drive-In Movies
One of the things that defines baby boomers is their love of drive-in movies. Invented in the 1930s, with the advent of fast food restaurants, the drive-in movie experience exploded all over America in the 1950s. Before things like streaming or even sit-down movie theaters, baby boomers spent many a Friday night nestled up in their car watching the latest movie releases.
Understanding Rotary Phones
Before innovations in telecommunications equipment, say individual buttons for numbers, there were rotary phones. It’s one of the things that defines baby boomers because they are the only generation who still knows how to use them. Though easier than they look, only the boomers mastered the unique clockwise-spinning rotary phones required to make a phone call.
Talking to a Phone Operator
Much like rotary phones, another thing that defines baby boomers is talking to a phone operator. Before widespread connectivity, people had to speak to an intermediary to make a long-distance call. Indeed, boomers are the last generation who regularly used the live person phone operator to connect them to calls. What’s more, there used to be a thing called “party lines.” This was when several households shared a phone line, so if you made a call but the line was already in use, you’d have to wait your turn.
Using a Phone Book
Much like the previous entries, using a phone book became a thing of the past. Now, with digital directories and caller ID at a fingers-length away, the phone book has become an archaic tool. For boomers, however, looking up phone numbers for individuals or businesses was a commonplace activity.
Smoking on Airplanes
It’s wild to think that only a few decades ago smoking was so ubiquitous it was even allowed on airplanes. Besides restaurants or any public setting, boomers grew up in a time when smoking happened in the sky as well. It took until the mid-1990s for smoking on airplanes to be banned completely.
Doordash for Milk
Nowadays, people use services like Doordash or Ubereats to get hot meals or even groceries delivered right to their door. For boomers, however, the one common delivery item was milk. Indeed, in the 1960s it’s estimated that 30% of consumers got their milk from the milkman bringing it to their door. While it hasn’t gone away completely, as some houses still use this service, it’s undoubtedly one of the things that defines baby boomers.
The Cold War
Though the United States has found itself in various wars since the fall of the Berlin Wall, no war captured the existential fears of the baby boomers quite like the Cold War. Less of a physical assault than an ever-increasing rivalry between America and the Soviet Union, the Cold War loomed large in the imaginations of baby boomers and defined much of their early years.
Duck and Cover Drills
As mentioned in the previous point, the Cold War hung over the baby boomer generation like a fog. Due to the proliferation and threat of nuclear armaments, most baby boomers were taught duck and cover drills throughout their childhood. In case of a nuclear attack, boomers across the country learned how to duck and cover under their school desks. How much this would have helped anyone in a nuclear bombing remains to be seen, however.
Tobacco Advertisements
Another one of the things that defines baby boomers is the widespread use, support, and exposure of tobacco products. Before the medical industry effectively publicized just how bad smoking was, tobacco was a common occurrence pretty much everywhere. Nowhere was this more apparent than the large advertisements and billboards romanticizing the act of smoking. Nowadays, it’s hard to find any tobacco ads. Back then, however, the Marlboro Man was everywhere.
Gas Shortages
Another thing that defines baby boomers is gas shortages. Due to flexing by the international oil cartel OPEC, America faced a widespread gas crisis in 1973 and 1979. These days, people complain about rising gas prices, but can’t imagine sitting in line at the gas station for hours to fill up their tank. For the baby boomers, however, this was a common occurrence.
Using the Sears Catalog
Before the advent of online shopping, there was only one place one could buy everything they needed: the Sears Catalog. Indeed, nothing defines baby boomers quite like their penchant for catalogs. But the king of the catalogs was Sears, which featured everything from large appliances to baby clothing. For the baby boomers, shopping from the convenience of your home using a catalog was a revelation.
Cursive Handwriting
Another thing that defines baby boomers is their ability to write in cursive. Before phones and tablets and subsequently predictive text became commonplace, almost every baby boomer was taught cursive handwriting in school. A flowy, nearly seamless method of penmanship, cursive is a skill that only the baby boomers retain. Word is, however, that the teaching of cursive is on the upswing again.
Newspapers
As you may have noticed, many of the things that define baby boomers come down to technology, or rather, the lack thereof. Nowhere is this more apparent than in print media. Indeed, for most of the post-war period, the quickest and most efficient way to get information about the world around you was through newspapers. While people now use the internet, many baby boomers can’t let go of their daily newspaper reading habits.
TV Test Patterns
Before the 24-hour news and television programming cycle, there were TV test patterns. Indeed, one thing that defines baby boomers is the memory of the TV test pattern. Back when televisions were in their infancy, TV test patterns would fill the screen before and after broadcasts. Comprised of geometric patterns and figures, TV test patterns allowed both consumers and television producers to manually adjust picture quality.
Beatlemania
Source: John Pratt / Hulton Archive via Getty Images
One of the other things that defines baby boomers is the unique phenomenon of Beatlemania. A cultural moment unlike any other, Beatlemania was the ecstatic, mostly female-led following of the Beatles between 1963 and 1966. For boomers old enough, many remember the explosion of British popular music led by the Beatles and how it took the country by storm.
Typewriters
Before computers and computer processing took over the world, if you wanted to write a letter or compose a document there was only the typewriter to help you. While it functions similarly to a modern computer keyboard, there is one huge difference: no backspace. Indeed, if baby boomers made a mistake in the document they were typing, only liquid paper could cover it.
Using Maps
Another thing that defines baby boomers is how well they can read and use paper maps. Before the ubiquity of digital maps and GPS navigation on phones, the only way to figure out how to get from A to B was through printed maps. Though often a labyrinth of lines and landmarks, baby boomers managed to get where they needed to go by manually.
Disco
Popular English vocal trio the Bee Gees; from left to right, brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb (1949 - 2003). (Photo by Sydney OMeara/Getty Images)
Similar to Beatlemania, Disco was a musical cultural explosion in the 1970s. Affecting everything from fashion to music tempo and style, disco was a style of dance music that proliferated in the baby boomer heyday. Though it has been mostly relegated to musical history at this point, only baby boomers remember just how widespread and all-consumer disco culture was in its time.
Writing Checks
While most commerce and banking business occurs online nowadays, many baby boomers remember using paper checks. Back then, the only way to pay for something without cash was a paper check. Though credit card usage is widespread in the modern world, many baby boomers retain the habit of writing checks wherever they go.
Never Switching Jobs
Another thing that undoubtedly defines baby boomers is their loyalty to jobs. While younger generations seem to job-hop as a rule, this was not the case for most of the baby boomers. Indeed, many boomers got a job and stuck with it till the bitter end, clocking in decades at the same company. Though it seems crazy to young adults now, boomers have always believed in company and career loyalty.