This experiment is my own digital Walden’s Pond. Like Henry David Thoreau, I am purposefully secluding myself to seek simple living and understand life’s essentials.
- No Smart Phone
No text messages.
No voicemail.
No contacts.
No calendar.
No GPS.
No camera.
No portability.
Talk-only home phone.
Unfortunately, landlines don’t exist anymore. Landline service over copper wire was discontinued in my area. I have a Physical Phone on order! The phone will only be in use for talk only, and only when I am at home and available to talk.
Answering machines were made available in 1971. The PhoneMate Model 400 was made available for purchase in 1971. I will acting in accordance with such and use voicemail on the phone for up to 20 messages which was what was allowed by the PhoneMate machine.
Pay phones also do not exist now, but they did in 1971.
If I am in need of a phone while out of my home, I will walk/drive to a shopping center or public location where a pay phone would have likely been located (i.e. shopping centers, grocery stores, 7-Eleven stores, etc.) From that location, I will use my cell phone as if it were a pay phone. I will pay* for a phone call at the rate of $0.10 per minute in 1971 dollars. The equivalent price is $0.80 per minute in the current year.
- Communication & Correspondence
No email.
No online appointment scheduling.
No text reminders.
No Zoom meetings.
Contact by telephone, postal mail or in-person only.
Professional communication by telephone, typewriter and postal mail.
- Information Systems
No internet.
No email.
No social media.
No online news articles.
No online address lookup.
No online appointments or reservations.
No online information finding.
No online research.
All information must be retrieved using methods available in 1971.
Newspapers, libraries, letters, physical personal phone books, physical public phone books (i.e. white pages, yellow pages), antennae radio and television only.
Also, telephone operators and information (dial “0” or dial “4-1-1”) were available by phone. Such services by telephone do not exist through my telephone provider. The phone company in my childhood home, Pacific Bell, allowed up to five assisted calls per month, with a charge of $0.25 per call after that. Translated to today’s dollars will be $2.00 per call, and will be paid* as such, if used.
- Media
No streaming services.
No smart TV.
No CDs/DVDs.
No cassette tapes.
No home movies.
All media consumed will be in formats available in 1971. Radio, vinyl records, movie theaters, and antenna-based, over-the-air television only. I cannot control all content, but I can control methods of technology used. All media formats will be strictly controlled to those formats available in 1971.
Radio: Analog, dial-tuned radio. I am obligated to hear whatever music is on the air locally. I will listen only to so-called oldies stations, similar in content, but ultimately have no control. NPR introduced its news program May 3, 1971. I will not listen to NPR until May 3, 2026. But, at which point, I am not able to control the content, and will therefore, receive current information.
Television: Over-the-air, antenna TV. I am obligated to whatever content is playing locally, such as current news and programming.
Movies: Home video cassettes were not available until late 1971. Therefore, movies must have been viewed in a movie theater. If I want to watch a movie, I must purchase tickets in-person and choose from what is available at the theater. If I hear word of any movie that was produced 1971 or prior, that will be my obligated movie selection.
Music: Only radio, 8-track and vinyl is available. If I choose to personally select music at home, I will play only vinyl records available 1971 or prior on my home record player. (Hall & Oates formed in 1970, but did not release an album until 1972. So, unless they reunite and perform a concert this year, I will be Oates-less. See ya next year, fellas.)
Books: Reading for pleasure will only be from books available in print in 1971. Reading for research toward this experiment, content may be educationally current. All library items will be researched in-person, checked out from a physical library using only an on-site card catalog and librarian assistance.
Newspapers: Printed, home delivery. I have a print newspaper delivery subscription. I will also obtain 1971 newspapers for research via microfilm at the local library.
- BANKING
No online banking.
No Apple Pay.
No tap to pay.
Transactions will be performed with cash, check and credit card. ATMs existed, but only directly in front of bank establishments. Visa and Mastercard existed, but not tap to pay. Utility bills and credit card/bank statements were paper statements and only by mail. I will pay all by paper bills and checks via postal mail. I am UN-paperless.
- DRIVING
No infotainment.
No navigation.
No cameras.
Analog car, radio only. Maps and handwritten directions.
I already have a very analog car — year 2011 — and I LOVE it. She’s little and zippy. I have no Bluetooth or technology capabilities; just a dashboard, a radio and an HVAC system. I cannot connect. And if my husband drives my car, we have to manually adjust all the mirrors and seat settings. Yes. It is annoying, but we’re used to it.
- RESEARCH
Local libraries for the win!
Our local library system does not have a physical card catalog anymore. Dang. But in order to keep with the same spirit, I will be using the electronic catalog at the physical library location only. Microfilm does exist at one library location downtown and will provide news and topics of interest for the year 1971.
Bettie will be talking to all kinds of people.
- DAILY LIFE
ANALOG WATCH
Good ol’ two-handed time keeper.
CALENDAR
Physical calendars.
PHONE BOOKS
Physical personal handwritten address book.
I have a physical Yellow Pages book. Yes! They still exist.
JOURNAL
Handwritten and typed.
PHYSICAL KEYS
Physical keys for entry to both home and car. No key fobs. No electronic keypads/RFID.
HAND-HELD FILM CAMERA
I have a 35mm film camera which I will use to take pictures. I can drop off film and pick up prints at my local neighborhood pharmacy/retail store. You know the two giant ones.
APPLIANCES
Thank God the dishwasher and the espresso machine exist in 1971! I am a stay-at-home mom. Appliances are my lifeline. I do have modern-ish appliances that I will not replace, but I will use only those features and capabilities that existed in 1971. Goodbye air fryer.
HOME LIFE
I am already an avid cook. My family is quite spoiled. I will continue to cook and feed the family, keeping with ingredients that were available at the time. That means frozen cauliflower pizza and coconut milk are out. But most ingredients are in. This year, I am actively looking for vintage 1970’s recipes — weird ones.
I will not be counting my steps or monitoring my heart rate. Instead, I will simply be walking.
- PARTIES, HOLIDAYS, VACATIONS AND KARAOKE
Yep. I am planning them all. I am purposefully continuing to engage with life and all of it’s activities. All analog. How do I figure out karaoke? Karaoke existed in 1971, but not in it’s current form. I am limiting methods of technology. So, do I default to the oldest available format available in 2026? Do I just use today’s technology, as the “system and institution” of karaoke were available, and then only limit content to those available 1971 and prior? This will be a big struggle for me personally. I will consult with all of my available friends/family/karaoke enthusiasts for the wisest ideal for this experiment. Anyone have a Juke 8 machine I can borrow?
10. RECORD KEEPING
As a former journalist, I have a love for writing and sharing stories. I suspect when I return, I will have lots of stories to share. Thoreau wrote Walden based on his own experiment. A few have suggested I also write of my experiment. Maybe I will write articles, or a memoir. Perhaps I will write a book, or a collection of poetry. But for now, in this year, I am to observe, learn, think, feel and discover. We will see what happens when I return. I am so very fortunate that I have the resources and availability to take part in this. Gratitude will be the founding emotion on this journey.
DISCLAIMERS
- Health, safety and lawfulness come first. Never will I compromise the safety of myself or my family. Nor will I disobey any laws or orders from law enforcement officers.
I will take my simple cell phone with me when I am away from home. I will use it only in an emergency. Medical emergency when not at home? Car crash? Emergency; I am using the phone to immediately call 9-1-1. Flat tire? Not an emergency, I will walk to a pay* phone.
- I WILL continue to take my prescribed medication, even though it was not available in 1971.
I have a medical condition that was not treatable in 1971. In fact, if I were actually in 1971, the medical treatment consisted of providing relief of symptoms, and if those symptoms worsened, doctors would have put me into a nursing home and wished me luck. A nursing home at the age of 45? No thanks. Not this year.
This is a social experiment, not a medical one. I am not risking my health and/or life, or those of my family. If you have a problem with these stipulations… then, there’s the door. You need to check your own heart.
- *There are some issues in which I will need to pay for services, such as pay phones. And being that those things do not exist any more, I will be forced to use an equivalent. Any of such purchases are described in italics. When I make any of those purchases, that are no longer tangible items, I will pay by saving the exact cost of the purchase, in cash, in a separate piggy bank. At the end of the year, I will donate all spent/saved money to a local charity. Let’s do some good while we’re at it.
- I am NOT forcing my family to follow suit. My family has free reign of their phones, computers, tablets, televisions, etc. Each can choose for themselves.
"It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and the medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts."
— Henry David Thoreau, Walden
