One of the components of the American dream is the ability to go on a family vacation. Each family has their own destination, and each family does things a little bit differently. Some families prefer going to the beach, while others head to the mountains. Some like cities, and some like back-country hotels and farmhouse excursions.
One thing that every family has in common is the pre-vacation checklist. Without one of these handy lists, someone would forget something, and the vacation would probably be ruined before it even started. Not that I’ve ever learned from experience by forgetting to pack my deodorant on a week-long camping trip or anything...
While the checklist itself is universal, things have definitely changed over the years. Most of the changes in the checklist can be attributed to rapidly changing technology. For example, a polaroid camera in the 50s would have been replaced with a video camera in the 80s. Today, all people need is a cell phone for both a videos and stills. Other packing items owe scientific progress to their decline in representation. With all of the research that has been developed in the past 70 years about sun exposure, you’ll find much more sunscreen inclusion in the 2000s than you would have back in the 50s when people still used baby oil to get a tan.
From film cameras to digital, clothing to mostly less clothing, things have certainly changed over the past few decades. Here’s an easy-to-read Venn diagram that shows some of the common items you’d see in a packing list in the 50s, 80s, and 2010s:
