The only constant thing in this universe is change. That’s something Greek philosopher Heraclitus said ages ago, and since then a lot—a lot—has changed.
So, it’s only normal for subject legality to be affected by this as well. Well, that, and everything that it is subject to. Mostly ethics, morality, and not losing your head because child labor laws were not a thing back in the olden days.
Image credits: u/90sVib3z
Yep, we’re of course talking about things that used to be quite normal, yet are illegal today, with Redditors posting some of the most spot-on facts to bend our minds a little bit.
#1
Exposed hair in Iran
Image source: one-upping-MFer, Ali Karimiboroujeni
#2
Sending your kids to the store to buy cigarettes
Image source: henri915, Alfin Auzikri
#3
When you picked someone up at the airport, you used to be able to walk right up to where they got off the plane.
Image source: JoystickMonkey, Pixabay
#4
Riding around town in the back of a pickup truck.
I’m someone who won’t take my car out of park if all the seatbelts aren’t fastened, but as a kid I would jump at the chance to ride in the truck bed.
Image source: yeasayerstr, cottonbro studio
#5
Smoking at school.
My HS had a smoking area for students.
Image source: Japanat1, Irina Iriser
#6
Cocaine. Used to be in everything, an I think it’s time we brought it back. -caffeine isn’t kicking the way it needs to.
Image source: ZMAUinHell, Olena Bohovyk
#7
So much pollution. People used to change the oil on their car and dump it down storm drains or pour it into a hole in the ground. Old bottles of pills got thrown in the trash. So much aerosol hairspray. Commercially, we dumped so much chemical waste into rivers they started catching on fire, and it started burning through the ozone layer. Superfund sites, the list goes on and on
Image source: AMoreExcitingName, Antoine GIRET
#8
I can remember when it was perfectly normal for someone to leave their kids in the car (doors unlocked and windows open) while they went inside a business. No one gave it a second thought.
Image source: Outrageous_Click_352, Yakup Polat
#9
Letting kids walk to school (or other places) by themselves.
The first time I heard about parents being arrested for this I thought “well, this is a one-off bizarre thing where we don’t have all the facts”. But I’ve seen it happen too often now and it blows my mind. I was walking a mile to school by myself in kindergarten and it was not only normal, but expected back then. Not one of my classmates had a parent drop them off at school.
Image source: Scary-Boysenberry, Caleb Oquendo
#10
Used to buy dynamite at the hardware store. My dad and I used it to remove stumps.
Image source: specialkwsu, Michael Coghlan
#11
Cigarette vending machines. No age restriction, just drop a couple of quarters in and pull the handle!
Image source: NewIdGuy77, Byron Villegas
#12
Being a latchkey kid. Growing up I had so many friends that would get home alone only for their parwnts to come home two or three hours later… Actually just saw somebody on this site who apparently called CPS on this recently
Image source: Lafitte_1812, Austin Nicomedez
#13
Dosing your baby with OTC Laudanum so you can go out dancing all night.
Or so my grandmother said – a couple of flappers overdosed their babies and they stopped selling Laudanum in the drugstore.
Image source: cardinal29, Ryutaro Tsukata
#14
Adults marrying teenagers.
“Younger than she are happy mothers made.” – Paris, Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 2.
Juliet is not quite 14. She’s an eighth grader.
Image source: JimBeam823, Agung Pandit Wiguna
#15
The ingredients in cough syrup at the beginning of the 1900s
Image source: AcidScarab, cottonbro studio
#16
Spankings in school, including with paddles.
Image source: Moist-Meat-Popsicle, Pixabay
#17
Lead paint and asbestos in housing.
Image source: DreyfusBlue, Warren LeMay
#18
Child labor. And the arguments to maintain it ranged from “nobody is forcing them” to “but if we ban it our industries will no longer be competitive” and “when they work, they are not on the streets”… I think this is an example that we must always keep in mind because many of these arguments from the “so-called choice” to “competitiveness” through to the “false alternative” are still regularly used today to justify practices that are morally reprehensible…
Image source: nicogla, kabita Darlami
#19
Public executions.
Image source: LoveDistinct, Dennis Jarvis
#20
Owning other humans
Image source: eagleman223, Muhammad-taha Ibrahim
#21
Driving with no seat belt. Driving while talking on the phone. Driving with no car seat for a child.
Image source: Nervous_Cell_25, Kelly
#22
Lobotomies
You suffer from nightmares, headaches, or depression? We’ll just slice a chunk out of your frontal lobe and call it a day!
Image source: ShadowWolfKane, Павел Сорокин
#23
Our high school had a rifle club in school. Kids kept their .22s in their lockers.
Edit: not saying rifle teams are now illegal. Bringing guns into school and storing them in a locker is what is now verboten. And I’m not from a particularly rural area.
Image source: justaguylookingup, Quenani Leal
#24
not wearing a seatbelt. people used to make fun of you for wearing one
Image source: BacchusBlue45, Element5 Digital
#25
Does anyone remember the 90s when “mooning” was a thing. I remember my mom driving down the highway and my brother and I laughing hysterically at some random guy who was mooning us out his window. I dont know if it’s illegal now, but I think mooning would be perceived a lot differently these days.
Image source: CassiesCrafties, Jonathon Burton
#26
Burning your trash in the backyard.
Image source: Zuid-Dietscher, Hanumann
#27
Smoking on planes.
Image source: Eis_ber, Philip Myrtorp
#28
Smoking indoors.
Image source: Ok_Day_8559, Denx arman
#29
Drinking and driving
Image source: Low_Palpitation_4438, energepic.com
#30
Punching your wife in the face for not having dinner on the table.
Image source: Sgt_soresack, Alex Green
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