The auto strap, for front-seat tots! (1961 Sears ad)

[Recursion]

Oy.

"But we turned out fine!"

"Yeah, about that, dad..."

[Lochloosa]

1. My stepfather stripped a Delta 88 down to the hood and frame.

Put wide tires on it and called it a dune buggy.

I learned to drive on Pensacola Beach in that thing.

Our seat belt was a garden hose.

I loved that man.

[MyOwnPeace]

2. My parents......

really cared for me - they placed me in a seat that had a STEERING WHEEL, just like Dad!!

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/547328160941279778/

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Better than nothing, I guess.

I remember the only "seat belt" we had in those days, which was my mom's arm that she flung across me if we stopped suddenly.

[FoxNewsSucks]

4. I have something similar for my dog.

She's happy, because she has just enough slack to stick her head out the window, but can't go anywhere if she were try to jump out.

[Fla Dem]

5. Four kids sitting in the back seat...1950's, no car seats, no seat belts, no harnesses.

Last edited Sat Aug 24, 2019, 09:47 AM - Edit history (1)

Sure our parents never thought anything about it. Didn't know otherwise. Even once seat belts started to be introduced, took years for older cars without them to be phased out. Would occasionally hear stories of whole families being wiped out in an accident.

[whistler162]

12. 3 kids in thje back seat and at night one of them

sleeping up by the rear window when my dad and mom had a sedan.

[RobinA]

6. We Had This

for my brother. It was a pain, so my mother got a car seat that hooked over the back of the seat. That was what they had then.

[hunter]

7. My grandma would stuff me and my siblings into her big Cadillac.

It was the sort with big fins and "jet engine" tail lights.

Older siblings were expected to hold onto the younger ones.

[Demovictory9]

8. we just slid around loose

[Harker]

9. For 1 to 10-year olds? n/t

[NightWatcher]

10. It's also a walking harness!!!

[Recursion]

11. We went on a trip to the mountains when my brother was 2

Because he had a tendency to toddle unpredictably, we bought a walking harness for him to prevent an unfortunate tumble off a mountain trail. He loved it. He loved it so much that when we got back to the flatlands he still wanted to use it, but we tried to convince him it was really just a mountain thing.

You know two-year-olds. He was having none of it. The dam finally broke, as it always will, in line in a crowded grocery store.

"No!" he screamed with the volume only angry toddlers and jet engines are capable of, "Tie me up with the rope again, daddy! Tie me up with the rope again!"

[Dagstead Bumwood]

13. We used to jump up and down in the backseat.

And try and catch air if the car went over a small hill. Played with spear-tipped lawn jarts, too. Safety be damned, we seemed to be saying.

[llmart]

14. There were seven kids in my family.

I was one of the younger ones, so us younger ones sometimes just sat on the older kids' laps. However, don't forget that in the that era cars didn't really go that fast. There were no freeways in our local areas. You just took two lane highways everywhere and the cars were these big monstrosities.

My first born used to stand up on the hump in the floor in the backseat of our car so he could watch out the front windshield. If we stopped quickly you never knew where he might end up. He was about 3 years old then. He still laughs about it to this day.

[OrwellwasRight]

15. I would not make fun of this.

"Attaches to car seat frame." -- Depending how tight you had it, that kid's not going anywhere unless you get hit so hard the car seat becomes detached from the car. Seems as safe as today's seat belts if you ask me. And yes, I took naps on the car seats back in the day. And rode in the way, way back in station wagons.