I started in the early 70s, but I don't recall that it was very much different. In the early 80s, when it bought my first decent bike, it was a Raleigh Super Grand Prix. I bought it from a friend who had it from his older brother, who raced with a university club. The first owner of the bike was the only person I knew with chamois shorts or any special kit. He only had his club kit. We all admired it and looked up to him. I think I was 15. He sparked my interest in cycle racing. The timing was perfect, because the following year Greg LeMond became the first US American to win the men's UCI World Championship in road racing. The women's had been won by US Americans twice, though I don't recall that I was aware of that at the time.
As for the Raleigh Super Grand Prix, I rode it everywhere; 11 miles to school and back, and ranging farther and farther from home, often with my brother. We sometimes took our bikes to go fishing & camping. We didn't call it touring. Bikes were just how we got where we were going.
It didn't include any special clothes. In fact, I mostly cycled in what I wore to school.
The accessories to have then were an Avocet leather saddle and a matching saddle bag. My bike came with the saddle, and I saved money for the saddle bag. The only clothing items available at my local bike shop were cycling caps. IIRC they had ones with the shop logo, national team caps, caps with Campagnolo on, and one or two other companies that made bike bits.
Sadly, the Raleigh was stolen when I was at uni, and replaced with a basic, but decent bike I bought off a professor for $50.
The first time I eve bought any cycling specific clothing was in 1993 when I got my first job with a professional level of pay. I bought my first new bike; a Raleigh chromalloy hybrid, and some cycling shorts that had several layers in the crotch. I won't say they were padded because the layers all together were thinner than a proper chamois. But they were cycling shorts, and a revelation to me because I had had problems from time to time with underwear chafing, and not ever found a good solution.
I still have the hybrid and the shorts, though the shorts are no longer fit for wear in public
They are still comfortable, and I sometimes wear them under other clothes.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom