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Writer's pictureSteve Schmidt - Drive Safe Missoula
May 152 min read

Google "Car Seat" and the year you were born.

This was the title of a Generation X Facebook post that recently popped up on my phone. In 4 days this post has over 9500 comments and 566 shares. Way to go Kathy Williams!




I had no clue what a car seat from 1973 looked like because, as a child, I never sat in a car seat. I remember talking with my father about it. He laughed and said said, "They wouldn't have been able to make a car seat that would have been able to contain you. You never sat still."


I remember, a car was nothing more than a rolling Jungle Jim for me. My older sister would fall asleep in a couple blocks and I just got amped up like I had just ate 4 glazed donuts and chased by a triple shot of caffeine. I remember staying awake during drives from Great Falls, Montana to Malta, Montana (200 miles). Occasionally, I would fall asleep during the last 10 minutes of the 4 hour trip. That's why I relate to this photo that Pam posted.


1960s or 1970s image of a child sleeping in the back window of an old car as it drives down the road. The image is faded and old.

I don't know how I survived. I was nothing but a distraction every ride. If there was a moment I was sitting still, and not sleeping in the back window next to the melted Crayons, I was sitting on the build-in booster seat between my parents.


Wait! What!? That's not a booster seat? It's an arm rest? No, It's 100% a booster seat. How else was a 3-year-old going to see above the dashboard through all the 2nd hand smoke from the two chain smoking parents?  I was nothing more than a potential missile. And, if the booster seat/missile launcher was folded up, my child sized pathway was closed limiting my freedom of movement. Again, I don't know how I survived.


An interior view of a vintage car with tan leather seats and a bench seat in the front. The center arm rest is folded down to show where the author used to sit as a child. This was a very dangerous location. e steering wheel is visible.


Let's go back to the Facebook post. Here are some of the other images people posted. Did you sit in any of these car seats?




A facebook post from Rachel Renae Thompson that states, This was the actual one I remember having. 1973" A vintage child's car seat from 1973, made of black vinyl with a metal frame. It is resting on the back seat of a car. The car seat has a high back and armrests.



Image of a Facebook post from Jeanette Myers Player that states, "Here is mine, but it was blue." The image is of a black padded car seat with a black padded bar that would encircle a child sitting in the seat. The car seat is hung over the front seat of a vehicles seats by two metal hooks that go over the top of the seat.



Image of a Facebook post from Lori N Tony Dameron that states, "There's what was available when I was born in 1965. The image is of the Henry Ford car seat which is a simple brown padded seat with two light metal hooks designed to hook over the vehicles front seat.

"Montgomery Ward sold this "Tiny World Deluxe Sit-N-Stand Car Seat" in the mid-1960s. As suggested, little children could ride in a seated or standing position--a convenient feature for the parent. For protection, a catalog ad stated the seat's padding would absorb 'bumps.'"



Image of a Facebook post from Sharon Benson that states, "My parents used this booster seat for a car seat. You could strap the seatbelt through it" The image is of a green plastic saucer shaped seat with a simple green pad for a seat. There are small openings, one on the lower right and one on the lower left that would allow for a seat belt to pass through The seat is raised up by a small and apparently flimsy and unstable metal base. I don't believe this was intended to be a car seat.

Image of a Facebook post from Melanie Waters Santos that states, "Pretty sure this was mine." The image is of an old milk crate.

Image of a Facebook Post from Holly Chatman that states, "I dunno man...1977 looked lie a tough year" with a few laughing face emojis. The image is of a sleeping baby wearing a white diaper. The baby is sitting inside a 70s style car seat that is hung over the seat of the vehicle. There is a padded bar that the surrounds the baby with no other sort of restraint.

Facebook post from Mary "Tex" Tillery that says, "My car seat was my mom's arm across my chest whenever she had to stop quickly. Lol" The image is of an extended arm on a white background.


I would have to say, my earliest memory of a car seat comes from this skit. It was from a show on HBO called Not Necessarily the News or NNTN. I believe this particular skit aired in 1988. I was a freshman in high school.




Here's a great video from Down Under about Child Car Safety in the 1970. Surprisingly, much of what this guy is saying, was eventually implemented. Although I hope history repeats itself and we bring back terms like "Car Smash" and "Lap Strap." I laughed out loud when he said, ""Children offer a particular problem, that is that they grow."




Hopefully this was a fun walk, or ride, down memory lane for you. Thankfully things have changed and our kids are much safer riding in modern car seats. I can' imagine what the next 40 to 50 years will hold for our little ones.


An AI generated image of a Baby inside a self flying Car Seat with wings as it flies over Missoula Montana in the year 2075. The car seat looks like a baby sized futuristic airplane with a glass bubble and helmet over the baby.

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