I was born in the 70s Tribe.. a revival! - Page 3

[DogwoodFairy]

1977 here.

I've had such flashbacks reading this...wow. I remember all of this stuff! What a trip!

~Captain Kangaroo

~Jackson 5

~Nintendo - with the Power Pad!

~Big Wheels

~Cindy Lauper and Punky Brewster were my heroes.

~Jeans with the little zippers at the ankle, even worse - jeans that had a little bow above the zipper. And they had to be Guess? jeans.

~Pound Puppies

~Taping Casey Kasem's Top 40 onto blank cassetes every Sunday, and always trying to hit the pause button before the commercial came on .

~I remember when Donahue was the only talk show around.

~Magnum PI and Knight Rider.

~Flourescent pink and green (together!) Ocean Pacific clothing. With matching stacked scrunched socks.

~Shrinky Dinks & Lite Brite. Wow, I had forgotten!

~The Drive-In theater. Its still functioning here in my hometown, one of the few in the U.S.

~Just remembered Cabbage Patch Koosas - the cat sidekick to the Cabbage Patch Kids. I still have my (3!) CPK, and my Koosa.

Sesame Street characters used to smoke? lol! I remember my grandfather smoking in the hospital when he was admitted for broken ribs and a punctured lung. Imagine.

I have so many more. I'll probably think about it all night. Thanks, OP, what a fun trip down memory lane.

[murphysaangel]

OMG this is awesome! I was born in '78. Jellies??? I want them NOW! And who can forget the after school specials - especially the one(s) with Tracy Gold???

We had a big hair-band fad in middle school. My fave was Sebastian Bach. I totally had a huge poster of him on the wall. My best friends loved Nikki Sixx and Bret Michaels. I had ALL the tapes including Warrant ("Cherry Pie"?), Slaughter ("Fly to the Angels"!), Skid Row (who didn't dance to "I Remember You"?), and Scorpions ("Wind of Change"). HAhahahaha

BTW the Sebastian Bach poster replaced the former crush posters of Kirk Cameron and Wil Wheaton. And the Corey's! And lots of pictures ripped from Teen Beat!

I remember the smurfs, of course, but also my other faves: He-man, She-ra and Thundercats!

I still miss WB cartoons. What happened to those, anyway? They're way better than Disney!

I remember when the word "like" became completely overused and abused. And everything else was "rad" or "bogus".

I remember crimping my hair! My mom permed me a few times, too and it was a total disaster. Every time.

I was a huge reader, so I remember Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, the Berenstein Bears, and then older stuff - Sweet Valley Twins and Sweet Valley High, and all the Judy Blume books.

And I am proud to say that I completely hated NKOTB. (but I just found out Poison and Def Leppard are touring together this summer, and um, I totally want to go!)

[DogwoodFairy]

Thundercats! And She-Ra! I cant believe I forgot!

How about Underoos underwear? I had the Superwoman ones.

I, too, was an avid reader, and I OBSESSED and collected all the Sweet Valley High books. How about The Babysitter's Club?

My first day of Kindergarten I wore a homemade Holly Hobby dress.

And speaking of kindergarten, does anyone remember the Alphabet people that were introduced in the late 70's as a learning tool -all the vowels were the girls (Miss Ah-choo)...for some reason, they are so clear to me.

Also, velour. How about all the pictures my mom had of me in orange and brown striped velour shirts. Man, oh man. This is so fun. I'm still brainstorming .

[bumblebeeskies]

1978

Watching E.T. in the movie theatre

Calling the local radio station to request songs and making mixed tapes

Playing outside by myself at 4. I don't remember any "helicopter" moms back then. You could be invited to a sleep-over and not only did your parents not have to know the other parents, but you were just dropped off in the driveway.

My Fisher Price record player
My Little Pony
Being on an order list for a Cabbage Patch Kid
LA Gear high tops that had two different colored shoe laces
Jean jackets
Feathered hair
Diff'rent Strokes and the Nancy Reagan episode about drugs
Just Say No!
Family Ties
Russia was the Solviet Union
Alf
G.I. Joe and not understanding why there was only one girl figure
Your Big Wheel could get you anywhere!
"Doubling" on bikes
Nickelodeon and "You Can't Say That on Television" and "Double Dare"
Reading every single book from the Babysitter's Club, and dreaming about starting your very own babysitting club.

[Amys1st]

Originally Posted by murphysaangel

I was a huge reader, so I remember Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, the Berenstein Bears, and then older stuff - Sweet Valley Twins and Sweet Valley High, and all the Judy Blume books.

I LOVED Sweet Valley High!! Did those twins ever get out of 11th grade??

My sister read the baby sitters club, I was already too old, but I read them since they were sitting around my house.

Judy Blume-
Are you there God? Its me margaret? LOL
Did you feel really bad for Deenie the pretty girl who had to wear a brace?
Fudge, Peter's little brother was hilarious!

and then, who passed around "forever" at a slumber party?? Then you read Norma Klein, similar books.

Who did a pom pon routine to "The Reflex", "what I like about you", "Micky", and "we got the beat" ?

Who practiced the moon walk?

Who wore a pin button w Michael Jackson on it?

Who partied like it was 1999??

[~PurityLake~]

I hadn't remembered most of these things until I read others' posts. Then the memories came flying back.

[DogwoodFairy]

And who wore stirrup stretch pants with baggy oversize sweaters and matching legwarmers?

~"Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters!"

~We Are the World

~Olivia Newton-John "Lets Get Physical"

~Chaka Khan

[SeekingSerenity]

1974 here.

I wanted to add that I remember my dad smoking in the grocery store. And sometimes, the cart would stop because the wheel got caught on someone's squished cigarette butt lying on the floor. (There were ashtrays there too.)

I was born and raised in Las Vegas, so I remember penny and nickel slots. And $3.99 all-you-can-eat Prime Rib buffets.

The Empire Strikes Back at the Desert 5 Drive-in.

Tart n' Tinys candy.

Walking to McDonald's on Saturday morning when my friend Stacey stayed the night, to get Sausage McMuffins, which were 99 cents each.

Taco Bell tacos: 39 cents.

My mom ranting about the unbelievably high price of gas the day she saw it for 79 cents a gallon, getting so mad she sped past the gas station looking for someplace cheaper and nearly running us out of gas.

Full-service gas stations (washing the windows and checking the oil while they pumped the gas for you).

Riding in the back of my dad's pickup truck, sitting on the wheel well, all the way to the lake (like 45 miles) with my brothers. Also remember standing on the seat next to my mom as she drove, because I couldn't see out the window if I sat down.

Wacky Wafers candy and TANGY Taffy (not this nasty "Laffy Taffy" stuff they have now).

Friendship bracelets made out of embroidery floss... and the little safety pins with tiny colored beads on them.

Plastic jelly bracelets. Fanny packs. Rabbit-foot keychains in neon colors. Cowboy hats with feathers hanging off the back.

Runts candy came out in the 80s... I broke a tooth on a banana Runt.

Side pony tails. Debbie Gibson's Electric Youth perfume, and the invention of Teen Spirit deodorant.

My parents standing in line for Cabbage Patch dolls at Christmas... and then there were the Garbage Pail Kids trading cards..

Oh, oh, and baseball cards used to have those little, stale pieces of pink gum in them!

Didn't they have Barbie trading cards at one time, too?

Slip n Slides in the summer time. And Super Soakers.

Trapper Keepers. And those yellow-orange folders that had drawings of people doing sports on them... I remember the girl playing tennis with a short skirt, and I always used to doodle on it, giving her hairy legs.

I remember that my remote-control Barbie Corvette was not a wireless remote... it had a cord running to the back of the car!

Console TVs, Betamax VCRs, 8mm home movies, Polaroids, rock stations on the AM band, 8-track tapes.

One thing I was thinking of the other night, Vick's VapoRub.. my mom always used to put it on me when I had a cough. It was in a round blue glass bottle with a metal lid. Now the jar is plastic with a green plastic lid. And her old vaporizer was this hard, styrofoamy stuff that was yellowed with age, had a brown heating unit on the top that featured an orange night light, but this thing got HOT. It got the water in the tank boiling, and it would shoot hot steam out. When it really got going, it sometimes gurgled and spit the really hot water out and so she always had to put a towel under it. This thing was a third-degree burn waiting to happen... but luckily it never did.

I always put a towel under the vaporizer nowadays, too, even though it's plastic, and the water gets warm but not boiling hot, and the steam just sort of... drifts out and gently humidifies the room rather than shooting out like a pressure-cooker! The towel is just an old habit, I guess...

Thermometers used to be glass too. I was always afraid of having them in my mouth, terrified my teeth would break it and I'd have glass in my mouth.

I remember when Tylenol became non-prescription. Hard to believe you used to have to get an RX for acetamenophen. Also remember the Tylenol poisoning that lead to triple-sealed EVERYTHING in the store.

I gotta stop now, I could go on all night... but one last memory: the clear telephone that lit up as it rang, and you could see all the inner stuff which was done up in bright neon colors.... wires, speakers, electronic boards, everything. That was THE thing to have! (I did have one, too!)

[tankgirl136]

Originally Posted by SeekingSerenity

Trapper Keepers. And those yellow-orange folders that had drawings of people doing sports on them... I remember the girl playing tennis with a short skirt, and I always used to doodle on it, giving her hairy legs.

I remember that my remote-control Barbie Corvette was not a wireless remote... it had a cord running to the back of the car!

First those folders were called "Peachies" and they were the cool thing!!!


I scared my kitty laughing so loud at the Barbie Corvette! I had one it was sunshine yellow and it wouldn't work on our carpet, so I took it to our foyer and would let that little car race forward until it hit the end of its 2 ft cord and came flinging back at me Even as a kid that thing frustrated me, but it was cool at the time.

The Barbie Corvette was also "futuristic" it had a TV screen and Phone!!!!! Wow!!!

I can say if you were born in the 70's if you look back on your year books from middle school or high school (depending on your age) you are guaranteed to see hair so big it couldn't fit into the shoot for about 75% + of the girls (and a few guys) in your class. You might even be one of them

[Amys1st]

Originally Posted by Socks for Supper

And who wore stirrup stretch pants with baggy oversize sweaters and matching legwarmers?

~Olivia Newton-John "Lets Get Physical"

Remember the stretch pants or stirrups getting "knees" in them. And all the big socks to match your sweaters or oversized shirts. I wore them w reebok high tops.

And who didnt think Lets get physical was about exercise??


Who wore shoulder pads that could block anything on the football field? What was up w that??

Remember when Oprah was fat?

remember when Mtv showed videos all the time?

[murphysaangel]

How about Pop Rocks and the rumor that Mikey died from drinking soda and eating them? I just saw the Mythbusters episode where they test that - totally busted!

[mom0810]

"I remember Cabbage Patch Kids and was told not to take mine outside so no one would steal it from me (they did steal them from kids the first year!)"--quote

Do you remember the lines our parents had to stand in to get them? My mom stood in line at some store for like 4 hours. She bought me like 3 of them. And do you remember their pets? I had the cat, I think...

[mom0810]

Friday Night Videos. Does anyone remember that show? I used to stay up with my friends at sleepovers trying to watch that.

Tab-tab cola, what a beautiful drink! Remember that one?

Boomer, the tv show about the dog. And Little House on the Prairie. I loved those shows. Fantasy Island and the theme from Mash... I used to fall asleep listening to those because my mom was watching them downstairs.

Oh, and as far as phones... the Mickey Mouse phone (wanted it!) and the Garfield phone (had it!) and the lips phone (had it!)

I keep remembering stuff...

Mr. Rogers had the Purple Panda! My mom got me his autograph somehow, an appearance in Chicago or something. And Mr Green Jeans... what show was he on???

Oh, and we had one of the first VCR's. They were the size of a tabletop and had huge silver buttons like tabs on the edge of them. And my mom would record specials on tv for us and there would be chunks of them missing because she had forgotten to unpress "pause" after the commercials.

And we had Intellivision. There was a game called Pitfall that my brother loved. There was horse racing, too, which was hilarious.

[mom0810]

Originally Posted by Murihiku

1970

I remember sliding from one door of the car to the other along the back seat when Dad would take a corner sharply. That was so much fun!!

And in my Undgrad Residence having three phones in the lobby for 180 people. Students were on phone-answering roster.

Just two experiences that would seem most exotic to anyone born in 1990.

We had this at my sorority house. Someone would be on phone duty and we would have to page the person the call was for. I hadn't even thought about how that would seem so odd to young people now. I feel very old.

Also, I was just talking to someone about this the other day... when did DOCTORS become younger than us?

[SeekingSerenity]

Originally Posted by mom0810

And Mr Green Jeans... what show was he on???

Captain Kangaroo. I had a doll of him and Mr. Green Jeans.

Remember The Electric Company and 3-2-1 Contact? And Sesame Street before Elmo? When Big Bird was trying to convince everyone that Snuffelupagus was real and not an imaginary friend??

And the original Battlestar Galactica, when Starbuck was a guy. Dirk Benedict, my first true love. The cheesy-ass show Emergency! was on after that, where they sent the fire truck out on every single call, even if it was just some kid who fell off a bike. Followed by CHiPS...

The golden age of television drama.

[bumblebeeskies]

Speaking of doctors...

I remember when knowing you were going to the dr. got your shot radar going. Ear infection? Shot! Strep throat? Shot! Kids these days don't know how lucky they are!

[Amys1st]

I have the mickey mouse phone! Its so sturdy and strong- they dont make em like they used to. Its in our bedroom and when people see my house who knew me as a child, they always remark about the phone! We keep it mainly because it can be used in a power outage.

I remember all those shows. On Saturday night, we watched (while Mom and Dad at bowling league) the Muppit show, chips, Love boat and then ended w Fantasy Island. I only remember seeing parts of FI since I would be tired and go to bed midway thru.

Emergency- I Loved that show! Remember the hospital people? They would have in the halls like 50 people walking by at all times. LOL All with those nurse hats etc.

I remember in 4th grade my Dad bought the first VCR. It was HUGE and cost like $1100 bucks. It must have been a good year because I also got the MM phone as well. The remote had a wire on it. And when you hit eject, the tape holder popped out on top. We also had a huge tv, it was like a piece of furniture. It had channels on top- 2,5,7,9,11...and the UHF channels on the bottom.

Yup- Drs had shots for everything and that is how parents threatened- you dont want to get sick, go to the Dr and get a shot do you.....

And yes, Drs are much younger as are priests now too! When Maggie was in the nicu, the fellows who were almost 10 years younger than me, called me Mrs...

Party lines is what the phone lines for four or more families was called. They were still in college dorms up until the early 90s as I recall.

[DogwoodFairy]

Speaking of phone lines, I recall that in my hometown, we only had to dial 4 digits to call anyone locally. It was 1989 when finally had to dial 7 digits to call out.

[fruitfulmomma]

"I remember Cabbage Patch Kids and was told not to take mine outside so no one would steal it from me (they did steal them from kids the first year!)"--quote

Do you remember the lines our parents had to stand in to get them? My mom stood in line at some store for like 4 hours. She bought me like 3 of them. And do you remember their pets? I had the cat, I think...

I still have mine and let my girls play with it. My dad said when he bought it, it was the last one on the shelf and some lady offered to pay him for it and got mad when he refused.

I was alive in the 70's for exactly two weeks, so can't say as I remember anything from that time. Dh probably has more stories - he was born in 73 and he *still* watches He-Man (and Thundercats and Dungeons & Dragons, etc...) We have original D&D books and a bunch of toys I'd never heard of.

[winter singer]

Late 1971, Northern Ireland.

What a fun thread. I'm only getting about half of the cultural references. My family didn't watch all that much American TV but I bet my friends who did would get way more of them.

We did watch Hill Street Blues though - anyone else remember that?

And I used to watch the Dukes of Hazzard on Saturday afternoons sometimes.

Fame! We all loved it. I had a tape called The Kids From Fame Live and used to dance to it when I was supposed to be going to bed.

I remember lots of local stuff from the 70s that seemed very mundane at the time but seems rather less so now. Soldiers everywhere, our local cinema getting bombed three times. Checkpoints to get into the middle of Belfast. Having your bags searched whenever you went into a department store.

I remember when Carter was US president!

I remember the hostages in Iran and the Shah.

I remember Challenger too.

Being told on the radio that radiation levels had gone up because of Chernobyl.

OK enough heavy stuff - Saturday Night Fever and Grease!

I Never Can Say Goodbye

ABBA

Platform shoes

Charlie's Angels

Going to see Superman

My brothers being taken to see Star Wars (I was considered too little)