Growing up in the 1960s and ’70s, every friend’s house came with its own peculiar set of rules that seemed perfectly normal at the time. Looking back now, some of these household regulations were downright bizarre, but we accepted them without question. Here’s a nostalgic look at some of the strangest rules we encountered when visiting our friends’ homes.
Table of Contents
- 1 1. No Shoes on the Good Carpet
- 2 2. The Fancy Towels Are For Display Only
- 3 3. Don’t Open the Refrigerator Without Permission
- 4 4. The Living Room is For Company Only
- 5 5. No Phone Calls After 8 PM
- 6 6. Must Finish All Food on Your Plate
- 7 7. No Running Water After Bedtime
- 8 8. The Front Door is For Guests Only
- 9 9. No Sitting on Dad’s Chair
- 10 10. Don’t Let the Cat Out (Even Though It’s an Outdoor Cat)
- 11 11. No Eating in the Kitchen
- 12 12. Don’t Answer the Phone Unless It Rings Three Times
- 13 13. No Going Upstairs
- 14 14. No Drinks Without a Coaster
1. No Shoes on the Good Carpet
Some homes had a special carpet that was strictly off-limits to shoes, even though it looked identical to every other carpet in the house. You’d have to perform an awkward hop-and-skip maneuver to avoid stepping on it, creating a bizarre pathway through the living room that everyone silently accepted as normal.
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2. The Fancy Towels Are For Display Only
Those elaborately folded decorative towels in the bathroom were never to be touched, no matter how wet your hands were. Instead, you had to use the threadbare hand towel hidden behind the door or, in some cases, just wipe your hands on your pants to avoid disturbing the sacred display.
3. Don’t Open the Refrigerator Without Permission
Some families treated their refrigerator like Fort Knox. Even if you were dying of thirst, you had to ask permission before opening it. This rule usually came with a stern warning about “spoiling your dinner,” regardless of what time it was or when dinner was actually being served.
4. The Living Room is For Company Only
Some houses had a perfectly preserved living room that nobody was allowed to use except for special occasions. The plastic-covered furniture and pristine magazines arranged just so were like a museum display of mid-century life, waiting for visitors who rarely came.
5. No Phone Calls After 8 PM
The household phone had strict usage hours, as if long-distance rates applied to local calls. This rule seemed especially puzzling when your friend’s parents would chat away well past the cutoff time. Some families even had a timer next to the phone to enforce strict conversation limits.
6. Must Finish All Food on Your Plate
Some friends’ parents insisted you couldn’t leave the table until your plate was clean, even if you were just visiting. This led to countless strategic attempts to hide unwanted vegetables in napkins or feed them to the family dog under the table.
7. No Running Water After Bedtime
During sleepovers, some houses had strict rules about not running water after a certain hour. This meant either holding it all night or mastering the art of the silent flush and ninja-like hand-washing techniques. The reasoning behind this rule remained forever mysterious.
8. The Front Door is For Guests Only
Many families had a strict “side door only” policy for regular visitors and family members. The front door and its accompanying walkway were reserved for special occasions, even though it was often the most direct route to where you needed to go.
9. No Sitting on Dad’s Chair
Every house had that one chair that belonged exclusively to the father, even when he wasn’t home. It didn’t matter if it was the only seat available – you’d rather stand than face the consequences of violating this sacred rule.
10. Don’t Let the Cat Out (Even Though It’s an Outdoor Cat)
Despite seeing the cat freely roaming the neighborhood all day, some families had strict rules about not letting it out through certain doors at certain times. The cat usually had its own schedule anyway, completely ignoring everyone’s efforts to control its comings and goings.
11. No Eating in the Kitchen
Some families had perfectly good kitchen tables that were never used for actual eating. Instead, meals were strictly confined to the dining room or TV trays in the family room. The kitchen table served as a mail sorting station and homework desk instead.
12. Don’t Answer the Phone Unless It Rings Three Times
Some households had elaborate phone-answering protocols, including waiting for a specific number of rings or never answering on the first ring. This mysterious system supposedly helped screen calls in the pre-caller ID era, though its effectiveness was questionable.
13. No Going Upstairs
Many two-story homes had an invisible barrier at the bottom of the stairs. Even if your friend’s bedroom was upstairs, some parents insisted that all playing had to happen in the basement or backyard. The second floor remained a mysterious, forbidden zone.
14. No Drinks Without a Coaster
The coaster rule was enforced with military precision in some homes, even for plastic cups containing cold drinks. The coffee table’s surface was guarded more carefully than national secrets, leading to elaborate coaster-hunting expeditions before you could set down your glass of Kool-Aid.
