7 things you hated doing if you grew up in the 60s or 70s

• Growing up in the 60s and 70s could be great fun, but it wasn’t all good
• There were some things everyone hated doing back then
• How many of these you remember?

However nostalgic you are for the 60s and 70s, if you grew up then you’ll know that some things could be a nightmare.

Many things we take for granted today were nowhere near as simple back then.

From awkward conversations and the ultimate embarrassment at school to a dreaded morning task, these are some of the things we hated doing in the 60s and 70s.

Making small talk on the phone with your friends’ parents

If you wanted to call your friends after school or at the weekend, in the days before mobile phones, you had to wait for the landline to be free.

You then had to hope they would pick up, or you’d be in for some awkward small talk with their parents before they handed over the receiver.

Things could be even more awkward if you were calling your boyfriend or girlfriend.

Your parents might also have made you wait until after 6pm to call, as that’s when the much cheaper off-peak rate kicked in.

Scraping ice off the inside of your bedroom window

When the 60s began, only around 5% of UK homes had central heating, with that figure still down at 30% by 1970.

Most families still relied on coal fires, or on paraffin or electric heaters, to keep their homes warm.

That meant it could be extremely chilly, with many people wearing several layers indoors to keep the cold out and using hot water bottles to warm up their beds.

Plenty of people remember waking up to find frost had formed on the inside of their bedroom window, especially in the 60s.

If all that wasn’t bad enough, many homes still had outdoor toilets in the 60s.

Topping up your rented TV

Most households in the UK had a TV by the 60s, but they were still very expensive back then, and many families could only afford one by renting.

Some of you will remember having a coin-operated TV, which you had to top up periodically to keep watching.

It could be hugely frustrating if the TV cut out in the middle of your favourite show, in the days when you couldn’t record that show or watch it on catch-up.

In the days before remote controls were commonplace, you also had to get up off the sofa to change the channel, too.

Whose turn it was this time could be a source of heated debate in some families. It did help, of course, that there were only three channels to choose from, or two until 1964.

Getting a bowl haircut from your mum

Money was tight for many families during the 60s and 70s, and one way to save money was by cutting your own - and your children’s - hair.

Many parents opted for the simple pudding bowl method, placing the bowl over the child’s head and snipping around the sides.

It may have done the job, but it certainly wasn’t the most stylish of haircuts.

Struggling to fold up a paper map

Before everyone had Google Maps on their phones, you had to find your way using a paper map.

The navigation wasn’t necessarily the trickiest part. That came when you had to fold up the map, which was often nigh impossible to do, especially if the wind was blowing.

Starting again if you made a mistake on the typewriter

Before home computers and word processors, people had typewriters, if they were lucky.

They were great, if a little noisy, until you made a mistake. Then you had to either start from scratch or use correction fluid, which could be messy, as there was no delete button.

Having to do PE in your pants and vest

The worst thing that could happen at school in the 60s and 70s, other than getting liver and onions for lunch again, was forgetting your PE kit.

That usually meant you had to do PE in your pants and vest - something that would never happen today.

An even worse fate was having to pick some plimsolls out of the often foul-smelling lost property box.

What was the thing you most hated having to do in the 60s or 70s?

If you remember the 60s and 70s, you might enjoy this look at the things every teenager wanted in their bedroom back then.