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Education & Information

Gen Xers and Boomers share things they were taught in school that are now totally incorrect

This is why lifelong learning matters.

solar system, pluto, planets, dwarf planet, pluto demoted

Photo credit: Canva

Facts change as our collective knowledge expands.

If you were born in the 20th century, you were undoubtedly taught that our solar system consisted of the Sun orbited by nine planets. The planet farthest from the Sun was also the smallest: Pluto. In 2006, that fact changed. Pluto was demoted from full planet to dwarf planet, and the solar system now consists of the Sun and eight planets. What we were taught was correct based on the knowledge at the time, but it's now incorrect to say there are nine planets in our solar system.

There's nothing wrong with this, of course. As study and research advance our understanding of the world, facts sometimes change. There was a time when doctors recommended smoking, and now we know differently. Maps of the world have changed throughout history as our knowledge of geography has expanded. So people who went to school decades ago naturally learned some things that we now know to be incorrect.

What is something you were taught at school that is now known to be incorrect?
byu/Xeqqy inAskOldPeople

According to Redditors, here are some of the common "facts" that Gen Xers and Boomers learned in school that are no longer considered true today:

You won't always have a calculator with you (Ha!)

"In the future you won't be carrying around a calculator."

"I still think about those teachers. It wasn't just math teachers either. I had an eighth grade English teacher who went on a long rant about how the whole class was terrible at spelling and we'd all be judged as stupid because we can't spell. Someone said spell check and the teacher said we wouldn't always have spell check with us..... hey ms Edwards 👋"

"While my high school Algebra 2 teacher has long since died (cancer related at a relatively young age in 1999), knowing her personality and sense of humor, I think she'd have appreciated the irony of that statement had she lived a few more years."

— (@)

The U.S. will soon switch to the metric system

"The US will be switching over to the metric system 'very very soon' to align with the rest of the world. THAT teaching occurred in my 1973 math class. Hmm"

"This happened to me one week circa 1984. We were gonna learn about base 10 and how it was so much easier and how the USA was going metric. I was like yeah okay 10s are easier to remember than 12's bring it on. Then it was just never mentioned again."

"OMG I think my second grade teacher told us that. That was around 1980. Still waiting! 😄"

"I was hearing it mid to late 70s some freeway signs started including Km for distance."

"Fourth grade in 1975, we had just learned US Standard, then they told us nevermind we're switching to metric. Metric was easier to compute, but it was hard to visualize the measurements in everyday life. A few highway signs had both MPH and KPH on them. Then nothing."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Lemmings will follow one another off a cliff

"When I was in elementary school in the early 80's we watched a Disney film that showed Lemmings running off of a cliff in mass suicide. The narrator led us to believe that this was a completely natural behavior that Lemmings were genetically pre-disposed. This information was SO PREVALENT TO AN ENTIRE GENERATION that it became a cultural metaphor for someone following blindly. I believed it for nearly 25 years. A few years ago I discovered that the suicide was for some reason staged by the people at Disney. For reasons still unknown to me these morons at Disney chose to not only traumatize us by herding Lemmings off of a cliff, but to perpetuate a myth making (at least my 2nd grade class) us dumber in the process."

"People of my generation even played a video game called lemmings that was based on this myth."

"They didn't just herd them, they were throwing some of them."

It may sound unbelievable, but according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, it's true. Not only did the filmmakers herd the lemmings off the cliff, they threw some of them into the water.

Oil is made from dead dinosaurs

"That oil in the ground comes from degraded dinosaurs."

"I was today years old when I learned that oil does NOT come from degraded dinosaurs."

"I went back to college at age 40 and when my geology teacher jokingly said people used to think that I was like wait what is truth then? Lol"

"I legit used to think about how oil reserves would mean that a bunch of dinosaurs died at the exact same, specific place, over and over again, and I was like naw, someone ly'n to us…."

dinosaurs, fossil fuels, oil, dinosaur extinction, paleontology We've learned a lot about dinosaurs in the past 40 years. Photo credit: Canva

Dinosaurs, in general, were much more of a mystery

"No one knew why the dinosaurs went extinct, in elementary school, in the early 60's."

"I remember being taught it was up for debate."

"Me too. Graduated high school in 1997 so whatever year it was that I was in elementary school learning about Earth science, that's what we were taught. Maybe it was a meteor maybe it was climate change basically we have no idea. They just disappeared one day."

"Yes, that's accurate. The 'dinosaur extinction by asteroid' theory was first openly suggested, with evidence, in 1980. For a while it was one of the big 'science controversies,' but is now very generally accepted."

"We know so much more about dinos now, I would have never thought birds were related to them."

"Birds ARE dinosaurs. It's crazy. I missed this sometime between my childhood and now but the science between them and now has decided birds are, in fact, dinosaurs."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Different parts of the tongue are responsible for different tastes

"We did this 'experiment' in class to see how the flavors were more intense on certain regions of the tongue and I could. not. tell. the difference. I was SO vindicated when this came out, because 8-year old me (new kid at tiny school) thought I was doing something wrong or I was defective in some way."

"I remember being taught that and immediately thinking 'That can't be true, things taste the same in every part of my tongue' AND I WAS RIGHT.'"

"I learned this in neurobiology class at UC Berkeley, and taught it at HSU. Sorry."

"Yeah! I tried testing it for bitter stuff I was forced to eat, like aspirin or liver and onions, and it didn't work to limit the taste to certain parts of my mouth. It never worked."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

The Civil War wasn't about slavery, just states' rights

"I had a 7th grade history teacher that tried to spin the civil war as just a states right issue that had nothing to do with slavery. Most of us knew that was BS and would argue against him. No, he was not playing the part to get us to engage…"

"My 9th grade teacher IN CALIFORNIA tried to do the same, saying 'Slavery was already on its way out in the South anyway, the war was about economics and states rights.'"

"Yep, but my teacher was for 5th grade and had us repeat several times the civil war was was not about slavery. Fortunately, I came to understand in a quick few years she was wrong. I still shudder to think she was teaching at all, much less in a religious school."

"I taught Texas History for a number of years in a large suburb north of Houston. The concept of 'states rights' is the official concept taught in 7th gr social studies. And, yes, I taught the party line - states rights. And every time I used the phrase 'states rights' I then used the words 'immoral and evil.' The students got the message. I always thought it was 'funny' that all the Southern states Articles of Seccession used 'slavery' as the reason for secession, not states rights."

"I went to small town public school in Louisiana in the 80s and 90s and that's always how the Civil War was taught to us. Every single year. No matter what teacher or what school. That slavery was just a sidenote. It was the states who were angry that they didn't have the rights to make their own decisions. Needless to say my education growing up was absolute crap and I had no idea until I went to college and realized how stupid I was."

Here's to lifelong learning!

From Your Site Articles

People from around the globe share 15 signs that someone is obviously an American

"An Italian told me that Americans walk confidently in the wrong direction."

tourists, american tourists, us tourists, vacation, american style

via Tarnie/Flickr, Paul Duncan/Flickr, tAlex Bikes/Flickr

Americans on vacation.

One of the fun things about traveling to different countries is that you not only get to learn about other cultures, but you also learn some things about your own. Americans who travel abroad often learn that people around the world appreciate them for being open, friendly, and good at spreading hope and optimism.

On the other hand, people in other countries can often tell when an American is coming from a mile away because they speak loudly, whether indoors or outdoors. Americans also have a very peculiar body language and are known to lean on things when they have to stand for an extended period.

A Reddit user posed a question in the AskReddit subforum to learn more about how Americans stand out abroad: What's an "obvious" sign that someone is American? The post received more than 35,000 responses, with an overwhelming number of commenters noting that Americans are all smiles and love to make small talk, something most people appreciate.

According to Redditors, here are 15 "obvious" signs that someone is American:

1. They have a unique confidence

"An Italian told me that Americans walk confidently in the wrong direction."

"Been taught to walk fast, and look worried.. People think you know what you're doing."

2. They're friendly

"I worked as a cashier in a tourist place in Paris, I always recognised Americans because they were kinda friendly to me and they always left tips."

"I guess there are worse things than friendly and generous."

3. Time = distance

"If someone asks how far away something is, an American will tell how you long it takes to get there as opposed to a physical distance."

"It actually pisses off some Americans to give a distance in miles, unless they're calculating gas mileage. In some places, you have to give with and without traffic options. I think it's more valuable info in time than in distance."

4. Grinning at strangers

"The gentle grins you give to strangers if you make eye contact with them as you pass by, at least in the Midwest. was not well received in Germany."

"I dated a European man here in the US. When we walked together, every time I made eye contact with someone on our path I would smile at them, and they would always smile back. Boyfriend was so confused at all these strangers smiling at me. Kept asking if I knew all these people. It was hilarious."

5. They like personal space

"How much personal space they give themselves. Americans like at LEAST an arm's length."

"We're conditioned to fill spaces evenly. I noticed when i worked delivery, spending lots of quality time on elevators that for every new person that enters, everybody shuffles to even things out. Similar thing plays out in social gatherings and bars. Not sure if that's universal or not, but I find it interesting. I think the size of our personal bubbles is because our spaces are generally much larger because we've got the space (heh) to build bigger buildings, sidewalks, roads etc. Might also explain why we're louder. Used to filling larger spaces with volume."

Body language expert Joe Navarro says that among Americans, the social zone for acquaintances and casual interactions is four to 12 feet, while family and close friends stand 1.5 to four feet apart. The intimate zone, for those closest to us, ranges from the skin to about 18 inches.

6. They lean

"According to the CIA, when training to be a spy, you have to unlearn how to lean. Americans tend to lean on things when standing still."

All of this is true, according to Jonna Mendez, the former chief of disguise at the CIA, who has shared some of her tips and tricks for making Americans seem more European. "So we would de-Americanize you," Mendez told NPR. "They think that we are slouchy, a little sloppy. And they think that they can almost see that in our demeanor on the street because they stand up straight. They don't lean on things."

7. They don't have an indoor voice

"I've lived in America for 25 years, and it still irritates me that instead of lowering their voices in restaurants so everyone can hear, Americans just scream over each other and make their restaurants as loud as clubs."

"For some reason, my otherwise smart and wonderful American friends will speak in the same volume, diction, and speed regardless of any outside factor unless specifically asked."

8. Dessert for breakfast

"In my homestay in London, I was told that I was 'so American' for enjoying a piece of cake for breakfast (not frosted cake, but like a nuts and dried fruit spiced coffeecake kind of thing). Apparently, that's exclusively for like a 4 pm snack, and breakfast is more of a savory meal."

"A lot of American breakfast items in my mind are desserts (pancakes, muffins, waffles, etc.). It doesn't mean I won't eat them, but it's kinda weird to do so."

9. They wear their clothes differently

"A British man once told me he knew I was American because I was wearing a baseball cap backwards."

"An Italian told me they could tell I was American because I wore my sunglasses on the top of my head when I wasn't using them."

10. Exposed soles

"While visiting Turkey, I was told that I looked American because I was sitting with one leg across the other, and the bottom of my shoe was exposed. Apparently, it's rude idk."

"In a lot of places outside of the US, showing the bottom of your shoe is rude."

11. Tactical gear

"Tactical sunglasses."

"I'm in the US, and virtually anything marketed towards men has the word 'tactical' in front of it."

12. They love small talk

"I'm from California (though a smallish town), and we wave to neighbors on our road, even if we haven't met, and start conversations in the grocery line with people if the opportunity presents itself. Also, smiling and saying hello to someone you happen to walk by and make eye contact with is quite normal. We are a social species, it would be so weird not to be friendly, even to strangers, for me, and I'm not even that social of a person."

"What really gets me to it is not that Americans do small talk constantly, but the fact that they are so good and fast at it. I mean, I say 'yeah, it's hot,' and they reply with some interesting fact or make a connection to their hometown. I feel less of myself after this. They must have some small talk class in school or some sh*t."

13. They like to point

"I've always observed my US friends like to point at stuff while walking and say what it is…. We were out walking around Amsterdam recently and they were like 'hey look it's a smoke shop'…. 'Oh look a sex shop'…. 'Oh hey, it's a prostitute' …. 'Look at the canal'…. 'Wow it's another prostitute'….. 'another canal' etc etc. It was like watching Netflix with Audio Descriptions turned on."

"You know that little voice inside your head, your internal monologue? Americans seem to monologue their thoughts."

14. Optimism and enthusiasm

"Dunno in all context, but Americans in Europe stand out with their ceaseless optimism and enthusiasm."

"I'm reminded a lot of Ted Lasso. Everyone I know (all Americans) loves the show. I wonder what kind of European fan base it has."

"Americans are so positive and have such a thirst for life. It sickens me."

15. They eat while walking

"When I lived in Europe, people said only Americans eat while walking. I'd be eating a bagel or something on the way to work or class, and multiple people asked if I was American lol."

"Jay Leno said on Top Gear, I think it was, that Americans are also the only people who eat while driving. I don't do this, but I constantly see people who do, haha, especially in LA, where people spend a lot of time in their cars."

From Your Site Articles

An 1896 video from the first Olympic Games has been unearthed. It's absolutely stunning to behold.

It was made just eight years after the world's very first video clip.

olympics, athletes, athletics, sports, olympic games, 1896, ancient greece, greece

Public Domain

Resurfaced video footage from the very first Olympics is absolutely spellbinding.

When the Olympics roll around, it's an amazing treat. Unlike most sports worldwide that feature a new season each year, we only get to see the best of the best athletes on the Olympic stage a handful of times in our life. It's no wonder the games are so wildly popular around the globe, with about five billion people tuning in to the most recent 2024 summer games in Paris.

The history of the Olympic games goes all the way back to ancient Greece, with the first official games being held sometime in the 8th century BC and the final event occurring in the 4th century AD. The competition took place in Olympia, Greece and consisted of sports like wrestling and horse racing.

After a 1500 year draught, the Olympic Games were revived in 1896 and held in Athens. Stunningly, someone brought along a video camera.

In 2016, the British Film Institute published a 37-second clip that purports to show footage from the very first modern Olympic Games. What's absolutely staggering about the video clip from 1896 is that what's widely considered to be the oldest preserved "moving picture" is from just eight years earlier: a short, two-second clip called the "Roundhay Garden Scene" that showed four people gleefully walking around a garden.

For reference, the modern film camera had just been invented in 1888 by George Eastman. The Kodak camera was the first "You press the button, we do the rest," camera in the world. When the 1896 Olympics were held, even still photography was just beginning to catch on with the masses.

Here are a few other notable facts that put the age of this footage into greater context:

The Civil War ended in 1865. In 1896, the United States was still coming out of its extended Reconstruction period and healing its divided nation.
F. Scott Fitzgerald had just been born in 1896. He wouldn't go on to write The Great Gatsby for nearly 30 years.
Vincent van Gogh had just died a few years earlier in 1890.
America had received the Statue of Liberty as a gift from France merely a decade earlier.
Bubonic plague was still around, and was devastating parts of India as the games commenced.

Simply put, there is not much existing video footage from this time period in the world, so it's truly amazing to behold even these short clips from the very first modern Olympic Games.

(BFI states that it's possible some of the footage may be from the 1906 Intercalated Games.)

- YouTube www.youtube.com

A few things stand out from the near-ancient footage.

First, we see an opening ceremony held at the Panathenaic Stadium. Other footage reportedly taken at the time shows a crowd gathering, including royal figures like George I, the King of Greece at the time, and British king Edward VII.

Athletes then take place in a standing high jump event. Again, some of the footage may be from the 1906 games, but according to the Olympic committee, the high jump was performed at the 1896 event. The United States swept the podium.

The lack of fanfare at the time is noticeable. As athletes step up to the jumping bar, a handful of men in suits loaf around and write things down in notebooks. There's no high-tech instant replay or television production. Just regular, athletic people who came from thousands of miles away to do their very best.

olympics, athletes, athletics, sports, olympic games, 1896, ancient greece, greece The opening ceremony in Athens, Greece during the 1896 OlympicsBy Unknown author/Public Domain

Over 200 athletes from 14 different countries gathered to take place in the first Olympic Games. The event was monumentally important for the future of organized athletics. Here are a few notable happenings from the groundbreaking event:

The marathon, a 26.2 mile race that's become a running staple today, was invented for the 1896 games. It was dreamt up to honor the "legend of Pheidippides, who is said to have run 40 km from Marathon to Athens in around 490 BC," according to Olympic history.

Swimming events were held in the open waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Funnily enough, in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, open-water swimming was reintroduced as a standalone event.

Gold medals for first place winners had not been invented yet. Champions received a silver medal and an olive branch, while runners-up received bronze. The gold medal didn't come around until the 1904 Games, although winners were later posthumously awarded Gold medals from the committee.

Long before age-limits and strict committee requirements, a 10-year-old boy named Dimitrios Loundras of Greece competed in gymnastics during the 1896 Olympics. He performed well in the parallel bars and his team placed third. To this day, he is the youngest competitor and medalist in Olympic history.

olympics, athletes, athletics, sports, olympic games, 1896, ancient greece, greece An Olympic medal from 1896.By Unknown author/Public Domain

The Olympics have become a mass spectacle, chock full of sponsorships, commercials, and world-class professional athletes. But they were initially created to celebrate cultural exchange and peaceful cooperation between nations.

There's even a myth that all countries who participated in the ancient Games would suspend wars and conflicts until after the Olympics were over. That's not strictly true, but it speaks to the spirit of the games and what they mean both to people who compete in them and watch them.

That's still why we love watching. The athletic feats are incredible, but it's the parade of nations, human stories, and learning about the culture of the host country that keeps us tuning in every two-four years. We're extremely fortunate to have video evidence of where it all began over 100 years ago.

From Your Site Articles

History (Education)

3 simple words that helped Robert Frost stay resilient through a lifetime of anxiety and depression

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life."

robert frost, poet robert frost, robert frost poem, robert frost poems, writer robert frost

Images via Wikipedia

American poet Robert Frost as a young man in 1910 and again in 1949.

Poet Robert Frost created inspiring poems that are beloved around the world. Frost was known for his simple yet deep style of poetry, and, although he didn't publish his first book until he was 40, he went on to earn four Pulitzer Prizes.

He created a body of work that continues to touch people. Yet, like many great artists, Frost struggled with his mental health throughout his life. (Frost was born in 1874 and died in 1963.) William & Mary English Professor and Frost biographer Henry Hart found that many of Frost's relatives struggled with schizophrenia as well as depression.

"Throughout his life, he struggled to fit in. His education was irregular, routinely disrupted when Frost dropped out after suffering attacks of anxiety and depression that expressed themselves in various physical ailments," notes the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Frost experienced many hardships during his life, beginning at a young age. His father William Prescott Frost, Jr., died when he was just 11 years old. His sister Jeanie would later suffer from mental illness, and died in a mental hospital.

Frost would go on to marry his high school girlfriend, Elinor White, in 1895. The couple had six children, a blessing that came with loads of tragedy.

"Four of Frost’s six children died before he did, including Carol, the son who committed suicide. Frost’s daughter Irma suffered mental problems that required hospitalization, and Elinor battled anxiety, too. She died of heart failure in 1938," according to the NEH. "Frost’s own bouts of depression brought physical and mental anguish. 'Cast your eye back over my family luck, and perhaps you will wonder if I haven’t had pretty near enough,' he lamented at one point."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

His wife Elinor was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1937, and died in 1938 from heart disease. "She had been the unspoken half of everything I ever wrote," Frost said. He would go on to live 26 more years without her.

Through these challenges, Frost developed resilience and perseverance. One of his most famous quotes describes his advice on how he pushed through:

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."

The quote is reported to come from a September 1954 interview with journalist Ray Josephs for This Week Magazine. During the interview, Josephs asks Frost, "In all your years and all your travels, what do you think is the most important thing you’ve learned about life?"

- YouTube www.youtube.com

From there, Frost shared his wise insights.

"He paused a moment, then with the twinkle sparkling under those brambly eyebrows he replied: 'In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on. In all the confusions of today, with all our troubles . . . with politicians and people slinging the word fear around, all of us become discouraged . . . tempted to say this is the end, the finish. But life — it goes on. It always has. It always will. Don’t forget that.'"

Frost died at age 88 in 1963 and was buried in Bennington, Vermont, next to his wife Elinor. Honest about life's struggles to the end, Frost's gravestone reads: "I had a lover's quarrel with the world."

From Your Site Articles

A husband wrote a funny song asking someone to hire his unemployed wife. It paid off.

"This is the most romantic thing I've ever seen."

music, husband, man writing song, headphones, keyboard, piano

via Canva/Photos

A man sitting at a keyboard writing a song.

Life can be especially frustrating these days for job seekers. Economic uncertainty from tariffs and a decline in manufacturing has reshaped the labor market, while artificial intelligence has diminished many entry-level roles. To add to that, applying for jobs has become far more competitive.

"Candidates are feeling like they're in an arms race with each other around how many jobs you apply to," Jon Stross, the president and co-founder of Greenhouse, tells CNBC. "You hear people on social media saying, 'Oh, I applied to 150 jobs.' And so you feel pressure that if you're not applying to tons of jobs, you're falling behind. All of this is just creating more and more anxiety and angst."

Man writes a song to get his wife a job

After his wife, Nicolette, lost her job as an attorney, a musician who goes by the name Empty Heaven sat down at his keyboard to do what he does best: write her a song. Empty Heaven is known on Cameo for writing "short tunes about anything people ask me to."

@empty_heaven
My lawyer wife is looking for work; I am helping the only way I am qualified to do so. DM for more information, but this is a weirdly informative song. #lawyer #attorney #legalwork #jobsearch #lawyersoftiktok

The song lyrics

Somebody hire my wife

My wife is an attorney

She's a lot smarter than me

She's looking for legal work in Chicago or remote

At legal writing, she's the GOAT

Let me tell you her experience

She's done appeals, vehicular, animal cruelty, and SVU

I swear to God, if you hire her, she'll be a great addition to your crew

Somebody hire my wife

She's worked government and private

She's got a real great mindset

She's the f**king light of my life

Maybe I can help this way

Comment your email, and she'll send you a resume

The song went viral, and job opportunities poured in

The song did its job, going viral and racking up more than 1.5 million views. Three days later, Empty Heaven shared a follow-up video revealing that he and his wife were blown away by the support they received.

@empty_heaven
UPDATE. My little “Somebody Hire My Wife” song has exceeded all expectations…especially for Nicolette. I provided some fabulous updates in the video (and actually got her involved in it for a second). Please DM any and all leads in Chicago you may have! We have covered an insane amount of ground for 3 days, but the hunt continues. Also, sorry about any DMs or comments involving needing a lawyer PERSONALLY; she actually doesn’t have her own practice and is more of a staff attorney/counsel/legal writer! #lawyer #attorney #jobsearch #legalwork #lawyersoftiktok

The musician wrote on the video:

"The response was incredible and totally unprecedented. I've been flooded with DMs in the best way, with people that want to connect with her and lend a hand. Contacts have been established, interviews and phone calls have been scheduled, and while she's still applying on her own, and it would've happened anyway on her own merit, this has been a major, major help. No attorney gets hired in 3 days, ever, so she is still looking and applying."

job applicatoin, application tablet, unemployment, job seeker, iPad A man applying for a job on a tablet.via Canva/Photos

It's terrific to see such an unconventional job-hunting approach do so well. It's also sweet to see a husband go all out for his wife.

"This is the most romantic thing I've ever seen," a commenter wrote.

"Do you know what this shows?" another person added. "His wife has a strong and positive relationship at home, so you know his wife will be focused on the work and not the drama at home. Just putting that out there for anyone thinking about bringing her on!"

When you're living in uncertain times, it often takes some out-of-the-box thinking to get ahead. Empty Heaven's TikToks are a great example of making the most of what you have to get by during tough times.

From Your Site Articles

People share their prized possessions from the '70s and '80s that they'll never throw away

"The mushroom pottery my mom made around 1980. Mushrooms were very trendy then…Now it all just reminds me of her."

vintage items, 70s, 80s, 70s kitchenware, 80s kitchenware, nostalgia, millennials, gen x

Photo credit: Canva

Imagine getting rid of a well built item from this era, only to buy the flimsy version of it today on Amazon.

Vintage items have really surged in popularity. Largely driven by Gen Zers and Millennials, shoppers are seeking things that aren’t mass-produced, don’t wreak havoc on the environment or cost an arm and a leg, and, last but not least, harken back to a “simpler” time.

But for some, these treasures of a bygone era are gleaned from hours of secondhand shopping. They've been held onto, preserved, and used year after year. Quite the novel concept in today’s world.

Recently, people on Reddit were asked to share items from the ‘70s and ‘80s they still own, and the answers reflected not only nostalgia, but practicality. Sure, there were plenty of one-of-a-kind sentimental items made by hand and with love, but by and large, most spoke of gadgets, clothes, and other items (and even relationships) built to last.

Here are some of our faves. Get ready to be thrust down memory lane!

1 “I still have, and use, my vinyl records I bought in the 70s.”

“Hear hear. We have our own too. Plus I'm not letting go of my radio.”

2. “1985 Honda 650 Nighthawk.”

3. “The mushroom design pottery my mom made around 1980. Mushrooms were very trendy then, and she was very crafty. Now it all just reminds me of her.”

See on Instagram

“My Mom made celery serving dishes. Awkward shape but I cannot bring myself to give them up.”

4. “I’ve got my “70’s hot rollers! Still working great.”

“Sadly, my prize possession, a blow dryer from 1975, up and died on me last year in a puff of smoke. Broke my heart. I thought it would live forever.”

“Those blow dryers of that era usually had asbestos in them, and we're blowing out tiny particles of asbestos right into your face.”

5. “My 1981 Rolling Stones concert t-shirt and my mom’s McGovern 1972 t-shirt.”

“I’ll have a 1982 Queen tour t-shirt and program from the concert in Milton Keynes..I think it may have shrunk as it is tighter now 😀”

6. “A Pet Rock that I named Rocco - housebroken and well behaved.”

See on Instagram

7. “We have my mother's cast-iron skillet.”

8. “The best knife I own was my grandmother's who owned a restaurant. It can slice tomatoes paper-thin…Rarely needs sharpening.”

9. “While I was in college, a pretty young co-ed was selling multi-piece Thermo-Core cookware sets on some monthly payment plan, so it seemed affordable to soon-to-be college grads. I was clearly not thinking with my brain, and I bought a 9-piece set. Almost 50 years later, I'm still using those pots and used one tonight to make dinner.”

10. “Basically my entire kitchen is 70s or older because everything simply works and lasts with very basic maintenance…rarely does anything need replacing if you care for your things.”

11. “My wife of 59 years, I married up.”

“My husband! Married 30 years in March 💜

“My husband and I were married in 1987, dating since 1982, friends since HS, and I knew him as my pesky brother's pesky friend before that. Which was in the 1970s.”

12. “I still have a lot of tools from when I started working in the 1970's. Chisels, planes, squares, hammers, wrenches, etc.”

13. “My Bernina sewing machine. A 1974 graduation gift.”

@diykristin This is the best thrift find! Sewing machines are not made like this any more. Vintage Bernina sewing machines a lot like over sewing machines were made with 99% metal parts. Do you want to see more of my vintage sewing machines? #sewingmachine #vintagesewingmachine #vintagefashion #vintagefinds #thriftfinds #thrifted #thrift #sewing #sewingtiktok #sewingtutorial ♬ original sound - Kristin Henry

14. “I will keep my Cabbage Patch Kid until I die, lol. My grandma legit fought for that thing.”

15. “All my original Kenner Star Wars figures. Complete set of all, from the first trilogy. But well played with by me since 9years old. So basically worthless and priceless at the same time.”

16. “My off-brand Care Bear (my parents couldn't afford the real thing) and my Alf stuffed animal. I loved that show!”

17.” I'm pretty sure the Vaseline, Vicks, and some cough syrup in my bathroom is from 1978. First two still in use. The latter used very sparingly 🤐”

18. “A little trinket box that my grandfather made me in, like, 1982 or 1983.”

19. “My partner (now in his late sixties) still has clothes he bought in the seventies. Love the heavy duty quality Levi jeans, jackets and sweaters. He looked after his things bc he didn't have much growing up. It's nice to see those old tags that say ‘Made in Canada.’”

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20. “I'm 63 and still have the name bracelet the hospital put on me when I was born.”

21. “I have, and am looking at right now, a Nepalese Temple Bell. My brother brought it back from a trip he took to India and Nepal in 1970. It is beautiful to look at and the sound of its ring is a sweet striking sound followed by a sustained ring. You can rub a dowel around the rim of it while it is ringing and it will sing just like a Buddhist singing bowl. It is a treasure.”

22. “Books, so many books.I have given a lot away over the years. but I've kept a lot of the classics - Charlotte's Web, Lord of the Flies, 1984, The Diary of Anne Frank. I still have my original copy of LOTR that I got in high school in the 70s, along with the Hitchhikers series.”

23. “My mom bought some high end sheets in the 70's on a ski trip in Colorado. I still use the top sheet to this day. It is smooth, comfortable and cool to the touch. When she sees it she reminds me it was from that trip, like I've forgotten the other 100 times she told me... ;)”

24. “My ‘72 Triumph Spitfire. I bought it used as a 1976 high school graduation present to myself and still have it. It’s still a hoot to drive, too.”

25. “I have my original black light and my mood ring.”

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26. “A cassette tape I stole from my sister in 1984. I used to send pics to her when I'd run across it every couple years as a running gag. It currently sits in a display case with a brass tag saying ‘She'll Never Get It Back.’”

27. “From the 70's, I still have a dress I wore on the 1st day of school and from the 80's, I have my jean jacket. Not only did I wear the heck out of it, my daughters did too! Which makes it even more sentimental now!!”

28. “I have a sheet of uncut dollar bills from the 70’s!"

29. “I have a boy's axe that was bought new for my stepdad in the mid-late 70s. Was handed down to me in the early 2000’s and it’s currently in use by my daughters. Obviously many handles later, plenty of trips across a wet stone, and more boiled linseed oil than I’d ever care to apply again; it’s still in service after at least 40 solid years splitting wood.”

30. “I still have a lot of my GLORIOUS heavy metal dresses from the 80’s. I’m talking lace-up from the navel mini dresses, ‘Lip Service’ brand (black, of course) Jeans, leather dresses and bustiers that all still fit. That stuff is great for theme parties!

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