Junked automobiles in New Mexico<\/span><\/p> Before GPS, group texts, and 24-hour stores, small-town life in the \u201970s, \u201980s, and even \u201990s was simpler. As technology has become more accessible to more people from all walks of life, you could say small towns now operate much like larger cities \u2014 just on a smaller scale. But that difference still matters.<\/p>\n YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:\u00a0Old-School Ways We Listened to Music (and Why We Miss Them)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Fewer Americans are living in small towns than they have in decades past. According to the Rural America at a Glance 2024 report from the USDA Economic Research Service<\/a>, only about 14\u201316 percent of the U.S. population now lives in what can be considered rural or small-town America.<\/p>\n That reality hits home when you make the trip back for Thanksgiving or Christmas and notice how much has changed. Stores have closed, new housing developments have gone up, and the places you used to ride your bike are now blocked by fences. Or maybe it hasn\u2019t changed at all\u2026 but you have.<\/p>\n Take a trip down memory lane \u2014 and down Main Street \u2014 with these photos from the 1970s that capture small-town life before social media and smartphones, when things were simpler, slower, and full of real-world experiences.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Stephen Lenz<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n While you might think \u201cwatching while distracted\u201d is a modern habit, even back in the day the TV was just\u2026 there, humming along while you did other things. These were the shows that weren\u2019t exactly \u201cmust-see TV,\u201d more like \u201cmight-see TV\u201d \u2014 part of the culture, but you had to wonder: who was actually watching?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Stephen Lenz<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n20 Photos That Perfectly Capture Small-Town Life in the 1970s<\/h2>\n
Did Anyone Watch These TV Shows in the 1980s and 1990s? <\/h2>\n