Nevadans, Do You Remember These 25 Things From the 1970s?

Slide open a closet stuffed with paisley shirts and corduroy jackets, and the pop-bright world of 1970s Nevada tumbles out like a disco ball gone rogue.

It was a decade when families argued over who got to sit closest to the wood-grained TV console for Saturday-morning cartoons, teens blasted eight-track tapes on joyrides through gas-line gridlock, and every living-room lamp seemed to sprout a lava lamp cousin.

If you catch a whiff of vinyl car seats or hear the soft “boop” of Pong in your mind, you’re already halfway back to that free-wheeling era of mood rings and roller rinks.

Bell-Bottom Jeans

Everywhere you looked in the ’70s, a sea of flared denim swished back and forth like mini blue flags.

Bell-bottoms weren’t just pants—they were statements. Teens loved how the giant hems swooped over thick platform shoes, giving every step a dramatic whoosh. Even parents dipped their toes into the trend, sometimes pairing the jeans with bold paisley shirts for family photos that now sit in dusty albums.

Stores piled their shelves high with bell-bottoms in every shade of blue, plus daring colors like mustard yellow.

Kids customized theirs with iron-on patches, embroidery thread, or silly fabric paint designs. If you wanted to show off school spirit or rebel against it, adding a patch near the knee was the perfect move.

By the late ’70s, skinny jeans were sneaking back, but bell-bottoms never fully disappeared.

Year after year since then, fashion designers have tried to revive the flair. Every time those wide hems hit modern sidewalks, people over fifty trade knowing grins.

Pet Rocks

Only in the ’70s could a regular stone, plucked from nature, become a nationwide superstar.

Pet Rocks arrived in little cardboard “carry cases,” complete with straw bedding and a tongue-in-cheek training manual. The instructions joked about teaching your rock to “stay,” which, of course, it did perfectly.

Classrooms became mini zoos full of the motionless pets. Kids named them, decorated them with googly eyes, and imagined adventures far more exciting than the rocks’ actual movements.

For cash-strapped parents, Pet Rocks felt like the perfect holiday gift—no batteries, no mess, no extra cost once you paid the three bucks at checkout.

While the fad burned out almost as quickly as it arrived, it left a lasting lesson in marketing magic.

Whenever someone today pays top dollar for a seemingly simple gadget, older Americans nod and say, “Remember the Pet Rock?”

Pong and Home Video Games

Before kids begged for powerful consoles with lifelike graphics, they begged for Pong.

The TV-bound game showed two white rectangles batting a tiny blip back and forth. It was basically high-tech table tennis, yet households couldn’t get enough.

Families crowded the couch, twisting plastic knobs to move their paddles. The familiar “boop… boop… boop” echoed through hallways, signaling intense, bragging-rights-level battles.

Looking back, Pong seems incredibly simple, but its staying power is legendary.

Older folks can still grab a replica console today and school their grandkids in minutes. When that pixel ball bounces off the invisible wall, the past and present meet in one satisfying beep.

Mood Rings

Slide a silvery ring on your finger and—like magic—it flashed blue, green, or amber.

Mood rings promised to reveal your feelings, even if you couldn’t find words yourself. Curious classmates gathered at lunch tables, leaning close to see which color their friends had.

The “science” was actually a tiny bit of temperature-sensitive liquid crystal tucked under a glass stone.

Warm fingers meant calmer colors; cooler fingers showed darker shades. That didn’t stop teens from giggling when the chart claimed a black ring meant you were “stressed” or “mysterious.”

Though smartphone apps can now track heart rates and moods more accurately, mood rings never truly went away.

They still pop up in gift shops, reminding everyone of the simpler days when feelings were just a shade of purple away.

8-Track Tapes

Slide a chunky 8-track cartridge into the dash, and music burst out with a proud hiss. In the mid-’70s, every teen wanted that clunky plastic square because it promised uninterrupted albums while the family wagon cruised the interstate.

The cartridges clicked loudly as they switched “programs,” sometimes splitting a favorite song right down the middle.

Clever kids jammed folded matchbooks under a tape that rattled, buying a few extra plays before the foam pad wore out.

Cassettes and Walkmans later stole the spotlight, yet the memory of an 8-track still brings back fond memories for those who lived through the ’70s.

That hollow ka-chunk between tracks is an instant time portal to bell-bottom seats and vinyl dashboard glare.

Waterbeds

Water sloshing beneath a set of jersey sheets felt downright futuristic in the 1970s.

The idea sounded simple: Fill a vinyl bladder, heat it gently, and float through the night like a human sea otter.

Installation was rarely simple, though. Families dragged garden hoses through bedroom windows and crossed their fingers that the floor joists would hold.

A surprise splash in the middle of the night often meant a tiny puncture—and a frantic towel rush.

By the early ’80s, leaking seams and backaches sent many waterbeds to the curb.

Still, anyone who ever drifted off to the gentle roll of their own mini ocean remembers the sensation as pure, wavy magic.

Shag Carpeting

Step onto thick shag in the ’70s, and your toes disappeared in a tangle of yarn.

Living rooms across America glowed in harvest gold, avocado green, and burnt orange, making every floor look like a fuzzy sunrise.

Kids traced trails through the fibers with toy cars, while parents fought weekly wars with bulky vacuum cleaners that bogged down in the deep pile. A lost Lego could vanish for months until someone finally stepped on it.

Today’s sleek rugs feel practical, but they can’t compete with the cozy sink-in comfort of shag.

When a home-renovation show uncovers original ’70s carpet, viewers over fifty feel that plush nostalgia underfoot.

Star Wars Action Figures

When “Star Wars” hit theaters in 1977, children sprinted from cinemas straight to toy aisles.

Kenner’s tiny plastic heroes—Luke, Leia, Han, and even a Jawa with a removable cloak—became playground royalty.

Spaceships doubled as lunch-box conversation starters. Friends compared who nabbed the rare Boba Fett rocket pack or who owned the massive Millennium Falcon play set.

Battles waged on shag rugs, ending only when someone’s mom called, “Dinner time!”

Collectors still treasure those three-and-three-quarter-inch figures, paint chips and all. Holding one now brings back memories of sticky candy fingers and backyard lightsaber swings.

Lava Lamps

Turn off the overhead light, flip on a lava lamp, and watch wax blobs rise and fall like psychedelic jellyfish. The slow dance of color hypnotized ’70s party guests and soothed homework sessions alike.

Each lava lamp took a while to warm up, rewarding patience with floating bubbles that split, merged, and glowed.

Kids imagined secret planets inside the glass, while adults relaxed in the trippy glow.

LED bulbs replaced the hot coils of yesterday, but lava lamps remain shelf staples to some of us.

Handheld Electronic Football

Mattel’s handheld football game looked more like a calculator, yet the blinking red dashes inside felt revolutionary. Players guided the tiny dash “running back” past a swarm of other dashes, all powered by a simple beep soundtrack.

Recess crowds gathered around the glowing screen, cheering when someone broke the high score.

Teachers sometimes confiscated the gadget, only to sneak a quick quarter’s worth of plays during lunch duty.

Smartphones now offer entire stadiums in 3-D, but a five-dollar thrift-store Mattel game still sparks fierce sibling tournaments. One push of the stiff plastic buttons instantly revives the pocket-sized thrill.

Jell-O Molds at Potlucks

Few dishes screamed “1970s” louder than a shimmering Jell-O ring packed with mystery ingredients.

Moms across the country suspended fruit cocktail, mini marshmallows, or even shredded carrots inside orange or lime gelatin, then unmolded the wobbling masterpiece onto china platters.

Guests eyed the creation, deciding whether to slice a polite square or pretend to be full of meatloaf.

Either way, the glistening dessert brightened buffet tables.

Today, potlucks lean toward brownies and veggie trays, yet retro cookbooks still offer instructions for crown-roast-shaped gelatin towers. One brave revival, and party chatter instantly shifts to stories of grandma’s lemon-lime surprise.

Earth Shoes

Earth Shoes flipped foot fashion upside down with a “negative heel” lower than the toe.

Designers claimed the slanted sole mimicked walking in soft sand and improved posture—ideal for health-minded hippies.

Wearers adjusted to the back-leaning stance, proudly striding through malls while others squinted at the odd silhouette. Some swore the shoes eased back pain; others just liked showing they cared about Mother Earth.

Modern wellness sneakers use high-tech foam, but none carry the same carefree vibe. Spotting an original Earth Shoe at a yard sale feels like discovering a fossil from the Age of Aquarius.

Van Murals and Custom Interiors

Blank metal panels became rolling artwork when ’70s owners hired airbrush artists to splash dragons, sunsets, or wizards across full-size vans.

Inside, velvet upholstery, crushed-velour curtains, and tiny porthole windows turned every highway into a gypsy caravan.

Friends piled in for weekend drives to nowhere, stereo speakers thumping while the captain’s chairs swiveled. Parents may not have approved, yet the lure of total freedom on four wheels proved irresistible.

The custom-van craze idled as minivans and SUVs took over, but occasional sightings of a mural-covered Dodge still spark honks and thumbs-up.

Sears Wish Book Catalog

Each autumn in the 1970s, a thick Sears catalog landed with a satisfying thud on kitchen tables across the nation.

Kids grabbed it first, circling toy robots, corduroy overalls, and the latest Hot Wheels track with bright markers.

Parents flipped to appliances and power tools, planning holiday budgets while sipping instant coffee. The glossy pages felt like a portable mall, long before online carts existed.

Sears no longer prints the jumbo book, but vintage copies fetch nostalgia-driven bids online.

Gas Crisis Lines

Not all 1970s memories are lighthearted. During the 1973 and 1979 oil crises, drivers sometimes waited for hours, inching their cars toward lonely pumps under hot sun or crisp dawn air.

Gas stations slapped “Out of Gas” signs on pumps, and families rearranged weekend plans around fill-up days.

Odd-even rules hit several states, letting drivers with certain license plates buy fuel only on specific dates.

Some folks rose before sunrise, coffee thermos in hand, to snag a spot near the front. Others stashed extra gas in the garage—though that wasn’t exactly safe.

The struggle left a mark on American habits. Compact cars grew popular, and conversations about conserving energy took center stage.

If you spot an old photo of a mile-long gas line, you’re looking at more than cars—you’re seeing the ’70s stress captured in chrome and exhaust fumes.

CB Radio Craze

Citizen’s band radios turned regular drivers into roving chatterboxes with funky nicknames.

Truckers led the movement, using CBs to share traffic updates and speed-trap warnings. Soon enough, everyday folks installed antennas on sedans just to join the conversation.

Kids riding in back seats giggled when Dad pressed the mic button and said, “Breaker one-nine, this is Blue Lightning.”

Mom might roll her eyes—until she needed directions and a friendly stranger responded. CB lingo like “10-4,” “smokey,” and “hammer down” became household phrases.

When cell phones eventually took over, CB chatter faded. Still, highway shoulders across the country hide memories of scratchy voices slicing through static.

And at vintage flea markets today, you can buy an old transceiver, call “Anybody got their ears on?” and feel the open road stretch back half a century.

Disco Dance Floors

Step onto a glowing dance floor under spinning mirrored balls, and the world instantly turned sparkly.

Disco fever swept clubs from New York to Los Angeles. Songs like “Stayin’ Alive” blasted from massive speakers while dancers perfected the hustle and the bump.

Fashion matched the vibe: satin shirts unbuttoned to mid-chest, gold chains, and towering platform shoes.

Even small-town roller rinks swapped overhead lights for rainbow beams, inviting skaters to glide to disco beats. Radio stations switched formats overnight, betting everything on the public’s love of the four-on-the-floor rhythm.

Though the craze cooled by the early ’80s, disco’s influence lingers in today’s pop tracks and party playlists.

Anyone who once pointed a finger skyward in time with the Bee Gees can’t help but wiggle when a retro hit sneaks onto the speakers.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Before streaming services served up endless episodes, kids woke up early on Saturdays for a precious block of animated gold. Pajamas still on, cereal bowl in hand, they parked themselves inches from boxy TVs.

Networks lined up shows like “Scooby-Doo,” “Fat Albert,” and “The Super Friends.”

Commercials pitched action figures, sugary cereals, and yo-yos in between. Parents enjoyed a rare window of quiet while their kids soaked in bright colors and goofy sound effects.

By noon, cartoons switched to sports or news, and the spell broke. The ritual taught a generation patience—they waited all week for those few hours.

Ask any ’70s kid today, and they’ll tell you Saturday mornings still taste faintly like marshmallow shapes and sound like Hanna-Barbera laugh tracks.

Polaroid Instant Cameras

Clicks, whirs, and a warm square of film sliding into your hand—that was the joy of a Polaroid.

Unlike regular film cameras that sent you to a photo lab, Polaroids gave near-instant satisfaction. Shake the picture, count to sixty, and watch colors bloom right before your eyes.

Families captured birthday cakes, first skateboards, and awkward school dances. Vacationers documented scenic overlooks without worrying about rolls running out.

Scrapbooks filled faster than ever, and refrigerators became miniature art galleries of slightly fuzzy snapshots.

Digital cameras later shrunk everything onto memory cards, but Polaroids maintain a special magic.

Modern versions still spit out photos you can touch and trade on the spot. Handing someone a fresh print today feels like handing them a tiny time machine—straight from a decade known for Jell-O molds and lava lamps.

Macramé Plant Hangers

Every stylish ’70s living room showed off at least one knotted rope masterpiece dangling in front of a sunny window.

Macramé plant hangers were DIY gold: All you needed was cotton cord, some patience, and a catchy radio tune to knot along with.

Crafters followed magazine diagrams that looked like treasure maps, looping square knots and half-hitches until the cords formed neat diamond cradles.

A shiny brass ring at the top clipped onto ceiling hooks, while a terracotta pot filled with spider plants or trailing pothos nestled snugly in the net.

The trend faded when sleek metal stands and minimalist shelves stormed in, yet macramé never truly vanished, as you can still find modern versions in stores.

Rotary Telephones with Long Coiled Cords

Before smartphones and speed dial, families relied on hefty rotary phones that clacked out each digit. Calling Grandma meant spinning the dial, letting it whirl back, and hoping no one misdialed the last number.

Coiled cords stretched across kitchens as teens searched for privacy, tugging the handset around corners until the spirals tangled like Slinkies.

When the cord finally twisted into knots, someone patiently unplugged it, held it high, and let it spin itself straight again.

Though push-button models replaced rotaries by the late ’70s, the sound of that dial ticking back still rings in older Americans’ ears.

Chia Pets

“Ch-ch-ch-Chia!” echoed from TV sets in the late ’70s as clay critters sprouted bright green “fur.”

Kids smeared damp chia seeds over the ridges of a terra-cotta sheep or porcupine, misted them with water, and waited for micro-gardens to burst to life.

The sprouts grew fast—sometimes patchy, sometimes lush—turning kitchen windowsills into tiny jungles. Parents liked the mess-free project, and kids loved checking growth progress each morning before school.

Chia Pets still sell today, now shaped like modern-day cartoon characters or presidential busts.

Older owners grin when new sprouts appear, reminded of the first time a clay hedgehog grew an accidental mohawk on the dining-room hutch.

Roller Skating Rinks

Friday nights in the ’70s meant disco balls, neon carpets, and the smell of pizza wafting over polished maple floors.

Roller rinks blasted funk grooves while skaters looped in endless circles, weaving through friends and practicing backward glides.

The snack bar served giant soft pretzels and cherry slushies, fueling races to the “Couples Skate” announcement when lights dimmed and slow songs floated through loudspeakers.

Beginners clung to the wall, while show-offs spun quick turns in the center spotlight.

Inline skates and video arcades later chipped away at rink popularity, but many still operate. Slip on rental boots today, and the high-pitched whirr of wheels instantly teleports older folks back to tube socks with stripes and plastic combs tucked into back pockets.

Tang and Other Space-Age Drinks

If astronauts drank it, kids wanted it. Tang, the bright-orange powdered drink, rocketed to fame after NASA carried it aboard Gemini missions.

Mixing a spoonful into a pitcher of water felt like performing top-secret science in the kitchen.

Lunchboxes soon held tiny packets of the citrus dust, ready to be shaken up in thermoses.

Competing brands churned out “space sticks,” “moon cookies,” and neon punch powders, all promising a taste of the final frontier.

Though juice boxes and sports drinks pushed Tang aside, one whiff of that zesty powder revives memories of Apollo countdowns on black-and-white TVs and cardboard dioramas of lunar landers in school science fairs.

The Streaking Craze

For a brief, cheeky moment in the mid-’70s, people ditched their clothes and sprinted through public events, cameras flashing and crowds gasping.

College campuses, sports stadiums, and even award shows witnessed surprise streakers dashing by in nothing but sneakers.

News anchors tried to keep a straight face while replaying blurred footage.