This Popular Boomer Childhood Activity is Now Illegal in 9 States

Today’s kids are often viewed as lazy or addicted to electronics. Regardless of your thoughts on that claim, it’s arguably true that when boomers were kids, they were much more active and creative, often using their imagination to entertain themselves. Let’s take a walk down Memory Lane and take a gander at the various activities that occupied this generation’s time when they were growing up. Many of these things would be simply foreign to today’s kids, don’t you think? One is even illegal in nine American states.

Board Games

Long before there were video games, kids enjoyed playing board games. Granted this type of entertainment had been around since the early 1800s, by the mid-1950s, games like Sorry, Clue, Monopoly and Chutes and Ladders were found in homes all over the U.S.

Penny Candy Stores

Penny candy stores have been around since the late 1800s, but they enjoyed their peak in the mid-1900s as boomers would stop by after school to grab a piece of licorice or Bazooka bubble gum. These stores began to rapidly decline in popularity in the 1980s.

Drive-in Movies

Drive-in movies were the creation of Richard Hollingshead, who opened the first drive-in theater on June 6, 1933, in Camden, New Jersey. This novel concept for a fun night out enjoyed its popularity through the 1950s and ’60s.

Telephone Party Lines

Party lines were an affordable option for telephone service that provided one phone line to multiple homes, or “parties.” They gained in popularity when there was a shortage of actual lines and people to install them during World War II.

TV Dinners

TV dinners first became available in 1953 by C.A. Swanson & Sons. They were inspired by the fast, efficient meals served on airplanes at the time. They could be quickly heated in the oven and enjoyed in front of the television, another phenomenon that was gaining popularity in the mid-20th century.

Climbing Trees

When baby boomers were children, they were often outside from the time they got home from school till it was time to wash up for dinner. One popular activity to enjoy during outdoor time was climbing trees, which you don’t see children do much anymore.

Studying With Encyclopedias

The mid-1900s brought the rise in popularity of having a home set of encyclopedias. Key players in this phenomenon were Funk & Wagnalls and the World Book encyclopedias. These were often purchased from door-to-door sales people and offered the convenience of at-home homework research instead of going to the library.

Writing to Pen Pals

There were various programs in the mid-20th century that connected kids with other children all over the world. International pen pals, and Girl Scouts and Campfire Girls pen pal programs were wildly popular as kids would exchange hand-written letters and anxiously await a response.

Playing Marbles

Marbles was a top-notch activity for kids in the schoolyards. Kids would play games like rolly hole and try to play for keepsies.

Delivering a Paper Route

Towns all over the country received both a morning and an evening newspaper, and it was the job of many boomers to deliver these chronicles to their neighbors.

Roller Skating

Back in the 1950s, kids took to the streets on their roller skates. Most often with metal wheels, this mode of transportation provided hours of entertainment and exercise. And you’d never see a kid in a helmet or with elbow and knee pads.

Learning Yo-Yo

Boomers likely think fondly of their youth and the various activities it included, such as yo-yo. Kids took yo-yo classes and even competed in the activity. Moves like “walk the dog,” “around the world” and “rock the baby” each required a hard focus and incredible agility.

Shooting a Slingshot

You don’t see many slingshots among today’s children, but when boomers were growing up, they were a wildly popular form of entertainment with the boys. They’d shoot everything from aluminum cans to small game and even perhaps a little sister. Today, having a slingshot intended to be used as a weapon is illegal in nine states, including California, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Washington, and Minnesota.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Hulton Archive/ via Getty Images.