Things that kids don't have anymore

[Arran]

What things did many kids have in the last 3 decades of the 20th century that are no longer popular with kids of today?

An example could be a Walkman type stereo. Show one to a kid of today used to smartphones and they will give you a funny look. Tell them that it could be used to load a video game into a computer and they will give you an even stranger look.

[George 1978]

Toys are things that have changed so much, not only because things go out of fashion, but also the fact that technology has moved on. Imagine a typical 1987 kid having a Philips Roller radio cassette recorder on their bedside table in their bedrooms (always seen back then in Adrian Mole-alike bedroom scenes in children's dramas, soaps and adverts) - what would have replaced it now? Some mobile tablet device that acts like a digital swiss army knife and can do anything from a Teasmaid to water the plants when you're on holiday.

[Semi42]

Blind dates where the only explanation of the person your meeting is a vague as a politicians promises

[tex]

A sense of gratitude, most kids get everything on a plate along with the idea of entitlement

[Arran]

Toys are things that have changed so much, not only because things go out of fashion, but also the fact that technology has moved on. Imagine a typical 1987 kid having a Philips Roller radio cassette recorder on their bedside table in their bedrooms (always seen back then in Adrian Mole-alike bedroom scenes in children's dramas, soaps and adverts) - what would have replaced it now? Some mobile tablet device that acts like a digital swiss army knife and can do anything from a Teasmaid to water the plants when you're on holiday.

Toys are a bit tricky because most specific items seem to come and go every few years. Therefore it's not really sensible to list items like Cabbage Patch dolls, Power Rangers figures, etc.

Do many kids still play with construction toys?

Digital alarm clock stereo combos were an ubiquitous feature of young teenager's bedrooms from the 1980s to the 2000s.

[OptimusPrime1980]

Manners.

[Arran]

A sense of gratitude, most kids get everything on a plate along with the idea of entitlement

Manners.

A bit cynical, although there is probably some truth to it.

[OptimusPrime1980]

There is around here. I've had them throw things at the door and windows, trying to kick my door in and that's just the start.

[Arran]

A collection of video tapes of recorded TV programmes.

[George 1978]

Toys are a bit tricky because most specific items seem to come and go every few years. Therefore it's not really sensible to list items like Cabbage Patch dolls, Power Rangers figures, etc.

Do many kids still play with construction toys?

Digital alarm clock stereo combos were an ubiquitous feature of young teenager's bedrooms from the 1980s to the 2000s.

This is what I mean when it comes to not having them anymore - the fact that toys are like fashion which changed so much in the 1970s and 1980s. When it comes to teenagers' bedrooms we mostly saw the American stereotype a lot more over in the UK, mostly in films - the Macaulay Culkin-type person's place. The fact that bedrooms were hardly seen in Coronation Street (unless the character was ill in bed), when we do see them, it's usually a certain wallpaper, football or popstar posters, and so on. Basically, they don't have it anymore because it's gone out of fashion years ago.

[George 1978]

Manners.

And respect as well - whatever happened to that?

[Arran]

Boom box type stereos. Hi-Fi in general has also fallen into decline since 2000ish. Kids now play music from their phones and tablets out of tinny Bluetooth speakers.

[Arran]

This is what I mean when it comes to not having them anymore - the fact that toys are like fashion which changed so much in the 1970s and 1980s.

Do kids even play with toys like they did in the late 20th century? They all seem to want digital devices now.

I'm part of the Toys R Us generation. The desire to visit Toys R Us (and buy a toy) is something that an increasing number of kids in the 2010s didn't have.

[beccabear67]

Back packs seem to be huge these days, and we had those too, but we also had these sports bags made by Adidas we used for everything from school books and lunch to actual sports gear if you had something outside school to go to (like figure skating, karate, dance etc.). Truth be told we sometimes used them to boost something from the large shops, a phase I'm glad came to an end, I felt so bad about shop-lifting and not getting caught I turned myself in.

Most kids had bicycles and I'm not sure that's anywhere near as common now. I'm talking late '70s-early '80s. Never saw a Toy R Us until a big trip to California in 1979, then never saw another one until maybe a dozen years later.

[Arran]

Pedal cars and other (plastic) ride on toys regularly feature in photos of young children (and some even as old as 5 or 6) playing out in the street or in parks from the 1970s to the early 1980s, but they are far less common now although they are still on sale. Even back in the 1990s they were uncommon, in my locality at least, unless they were clearly a tricycle.

Tricycles were commonplace in the 1990s but also seem to have declined in popularity. Many of the tricycles I have seen whilst out and about in recent years are machines which resemble pushchairs more than anything else.