I was born in the 70s Tribe.. a revival! - Page 5

[Amys1st]

I remember in the early 80s talking about magazine ads in school. There was a cigarette ad on every other page because you could not advertise on TV.
I think it was the same w liquor but I know it was tobacco for sure.


One xmas we got the Thriller album, Cyndi Lauper album and Duran Duran.

[Turquesa]

Great thread!

I was born in 1975.

There was no such thing as Starbucks. Everybody drank that gack-awful Maxwell House brewed in the Mr. Coffee.

They drank it in styrofoam cups because that material wasn't yet taboo.

The environmental movement wasn't strong, and it was considered cool and rebellious to litter out the car window. (OK, maybe that's just how it was growing up in Redneck Country. )

We used pay phones. They were everywhere, and they cost a dime per call.

We traded Garbage Pail Kids cards. The enclosed gum was rock hard and tasted terrible, but we chewed it anyway.

"YM" stood for "Young Miss" Magazine.

My little brother and I got up at 6am to catch the first of the Saturday morning cartoons. The Smurfs were our favorite.

We traveled with CB radios, not cell phones.

Car phones were gigantic and extremely rare; we only saw really rich people use them in the movies.

All of our appliances--e.g. dishwasher, microwave, washer, and dryer--required you to crank a dial to operate them.

"Microwave cookery" was the rage.

Hard exercise was called "high-impact aerobics." We did it while wearing leotards and tights, and we spoke of "feeling the burn" and "no pain, no gain." Jane Fonda and Suzanne Somers come to mind... We counted calories instead of fat grams or carbs.

You could walk on and off airplanes with little to no security. Kids could go visit the cockpit. Family and loved ones could meet you at the gate immediately after you got off the plane.

Hope and Beau were on again, off again.

With no email, texting, or twittering, we youngins resorted to surreptitious communication...passing each other hand-written notes fancily folded with a little tab that read "pull here."

The New Coke was a failed experiment.

And by the way, where's the beef?

[Starflower]

Originally Posted by Amys1st

One xmas we got the Thriller album, Cyndi Lauper album and Duran Duran.

I had a huge thing for Duran Duran until they started switching members around. I did like Arcadia though.

Originally Posted by Turquesa

Great thread!

The New Coke was a failed experiment.

And by the way, where's the beef?

Ack! New Coke was so nasty!

Where's the beef? We loved those commercials!

[babycarrier]

January 74
I laughed while reading - thanks for the memories.

Friendship pins
pegged pants
Blondie album
Learning to type on a typewriter
a suitcase of legos and sleeping bags in the back of the station wagon with the folded down seat for road trips.
drive - in movies
collecting stickers and garbage pail kids cards
jelly shoes
jelly bracelets
hair ribbon barrettes
wicked awesome
curling iron and aussie hair products
green/blue mascara
rotary phones
getting the cool cable package with 13 channels on the dial
our first apple 2c and the modem where you put the hand receiver in the modem.
Wham! and George Michael

[spruce]

Wow, good ones.

January 72.

Breakdancing at lunchtime.

My mom made our clothes, with really loud patterns (trains, teddies, etc), unless we got them at KMart. Plain pocket jeans.

Jelly shoes, parachute pants, my first boyfriend was black (I am white).

We were military, I had that asinine little red lunch card that said we were poor...we ate tuna everything at dinner for months, then hamburger for months after that.

There was no-label stuff at the Commissary that said "unknown vegetable" and we bought it. My mom bought beer that came in a white can with black letters that said "BEER" for my dad, who was almost never home.

When he was home, one time he took us on a "field trip" to the Olympia Brewery. They gave us Dixie cups of beer.

My mom got a cheerio perm when I was about in 3rd grade. I didn't know who she was when I got to my yard...asked her if she knew where my mother might be. Her hair had been in the middle of her back, and all of a sudden it was these tiny little "O's"!

I remember staying home sick from school and reading 8 Nancy Drews in one day.


Cindy Lauper, Madonna's first MTV video, Thriller, growing up Jedi, Strawberry Shortcake, the first roller blades, and waterbeds.

P

[spruce]

Originally Posted by farmlife

Learning to type on a typewriterl

Oh yes! I remember sleeping and waking up "typing" in my sleep...or I'd be bored and I'd type out everything on my imaginary typewriter. I think I skivved off of 1/3 my typing classes in freshman year, but I passed with an A because I was a compulsive typist!

[Amys1st]

-There was no such thing as Starbucks. Everybody drank that gack-awful Maxwell House brewed in the Mr. Coffee.
EWWWWWWW! blue can! I filled it with crayons! I wanted one for my kids so I swiped my parents or IL's Hill's bros can!

The environmental movement wasn't strong, and it was considered cool and rebellious to litter out the car window. (OK, maybe that's just how it was growing up in Redneck Country. )
Did you see Woodsie Owl on Tv? Give a hoot, dont pollute!
But then again, driving down to Fl in our station wagon we also kept the porto potty. After my sister used it, my dad would roll down the window and fling the contents out of the window.



We traded Garbage Pail Kids cards. The enclosed gum was rock hard and tasted terrible, but we chewed it anyway.
remember achne Amy?


All of our appliances--e.g. dishwasher, microwave, washer, and dryer--required you to crank a dial to operate them.
and they were HUGE and took up a gormuormous amount of space.

You could walk on and off airplanes with little to no security. Kids could go visit the cockpit. Family and loved ones could meet you at the gate immediately after you got off the plane.

You could also, if you had to get something somewhere quick, go to the gate and tell the stewardess you want her to give this package to someone at the arrival city. "did anyone you dont know give you something to carry?"


Hope and Beau were on again, off again.
they were hot

With no email, texting, or twittering, we youngins resorted to surreptitious communication...passing each other hand-written notes fancily folded with a little tab that read "pull here."
Like your friend didnt know DUH. I wonder if I can still fold something like that.


The New Coke was a failed experiment.
Big time.

[Amys1st]

Have to add:

Remember when panty hose came in an egg? Who didnt take those and have boobs??

If you had two, then you can have even boobs and your neighbor could have the smaller boobs.

Bad fashion mistakes:
Huge huge shoulder pads. Why?
rebok high tops.
Frankie Say....
flash dance tops. But first you had to take your bra off while still wearing the shirt. That is the biggest turn on for DH.
2 tone jeans.
Hammer pants.

Who took their rubuks cube apart and "solved" it? OR did you buy the book like my dork brother and solve it?

[Starflower]

Originally Posted by Amys1st

Have to add:

Remember when panty hose came in an egg? Who didnt take those and have boobs??

If you had two, then you can have even boobs and your neighbor could have the smaller boobs.

We did this. I had big fuzzy puffballs with bells on them to tie onto my roller skates. These made excellent boobs too - the bells were like nipples. Double

Originally Posted by Amys1st

Have to add:
Bad fashion mistakes:

Frankie Say....

RELAX! I think had had that button....

Originally Posted by Amys1st

Have to add:
flash dance tops. But first you had to take your bra off while still wearing the shirt.

I still do this all the time, but mostly because I'm lazy and I hate bras....though my girl friend and I did do this once as we were walking home from school with a couple of boys....they seemed impressed.

Originally Posted by Amys1st

Have to add:
Who took their rubuks cube apart and "solved" it?

Taking it apart was the only way I ever solved it! I had a little mini-Rubik's cube on a chain necklace. It was really easy to get apart. I could only ever get two sides in the right way.

[almadianna]

There were two "I was born in the 70's tribe" so I merged them for you guys.

[Turquesa]

Originally Posted by Amys1st

I remember in the early 80s talking about magazine ads in school. There was a cigarette ad on every other page because you could not advertise on TV.

Do you remember the jingles? “Paul Mall, Step Ahead.” “You’ve come a long way, baby.” “You’re in Marlboro Country.”

Originally Posted by spruce

Plain pocket jeans.

Do you remember Levi’s shrink-to-fits? And much later, we had the acid-washed (a.k.a. stone-washed) denim. Lots of denim. It was never considered overkill to wear a denim mini-skirt with a jean jacket. I even had denim boots with pockets on the sides.

Originally Posted by Starflower

We did this. I had big fuzzy puffballs with bells on them to tie onto my roller skates.

Ah yes, rollerskates! LOL! Kids these days are so uppity with their rollerblades!

Originally Posted by Starflower

I had a huge thing for Duran Duran until they started switching members around. I did like Arcadia though.

Simon Lebon rocked my world. I believe he was the one who said, “We change our hair more than we change our underwear.”

Originally Posted by farmlife

our first apple 2c and the modem where you put the hand receiver in the modem.

I remember the computers. Nanotech they were not! My eyes went sore from those bright green letters on the screen.

This is fun. May I add some more?

Ads on TV had a lot more musical jingles than they do today: “It’s so easy” for Fantastic cleaning spray, “Snickers satisfies you,” “Nobody doesn’t…like Sara Lee,” “Freedent’s the one,” “It’s meal time, from now on my finicky friend” (Purina Dog Chow). “Maxwell House decaffeinated, Maxwell House delicious.” Sorry if I got any of those in your head.

We wore super-dark sunglasses with fluorescent-colored sides. Sunglasses were not considered functional; they were considered cool.

My first-ever tape was Bryan Adams’ Reckless. It was a Christmas present from my big brother.

The Coreys (Haim and Feldman) still had prepubescent voices.

I had to sneak around my parents to see Caddyshack, Meatballs, Porky’s, Revenge of the Nerds, and Friday the Thirteenth. Freddy Kruger was always there to scare us at sleepovers. I secretly yearned to be Claire (Molly Ringwald) in The Breakfast Club but ended up resembling a Punky Brewster wanna-be. I had a serious crush on Ralph “Daniel-San” Macchio.

We bought hair mousse that would temporarily add color. My favorite was red. (Did I mention my love of Molly Ringwald?)

"Be excellent to one another."

The mullet.

[Blanca78]

Don't have anything to add offhand but January 78 here and enjoying reading this immensely!

[SeekingSerenity]

Originally Posted by Turquesa

Ads on TV had a lot more musical jingles than they do today: “It’s so easy” for Fantastic cleaning spray, “Snickers satisfies you,” “Nobody doesn’t…like Sara Lee,” “Freedent’s the one,” “It’s meal time, from now on my finicky friend” (Purina Dog Chow). “Maxwell House decaffeinated, Maxwell House delicious.” Sorry if I got any of those in your head.

"If ever you're not satisfied with one of our tires, please feel free to bring it back. Discount Tire Company." (insert old lady tossing tire through plate glass window.) No jingle, but this was one of my favorite ads as a kid.

Here's a gum-jingle: "Brush your breath clean... Dentyne!!" HAHA!

Originally Posted by Turquesa

We wore super-dark sunglasses with fluorescent-colored sides. Sunglasses were not considered functional; they were considered cool.

YES!!! I remember these! I wanted neon sunglasses to match my neon Swatch watch!

Originally Posted by Turquesa

My first-ever tape was Bryan Adams’ Reckless. It was a Christmas present from my big brother.

I still remember how much I loved my nightgown with Jon Bon Jovi on it, and the words "I'll Be There For You." My mom got me that for Christmas the year I was 14, and I swear I cried with joy. I wore it until it fell apart. (Bon Jovi was my first concert too.)

Originally Posted by Turquesa

I had a serious crush on Ralph “Daniel-San” Macchio.

***sigh*** Who didn't??

Originally Posted by Turquesa

We bought hair mousse that would temporarily add color. My favorite was red. (Did I mention my love of Molly Ringwald?)

I was just telling DH the other day how my best friend and I would buy a whole rainbow of colored hairspray during the month of October, and we'd put streaks of color in our hair with that. It was like washable spray paint for hair. During homecoming week, we'd be all orange-and-black streaks (our school colors, also good for Halloween) and our hair would be like straw afterwards.

Originally Posted by Turquesa

The mullet.

To think, some people not only still have mullets, but still think they're cool.

As a total flashback, DH had me looking for a water filter online the other day, and we were searching for the best price. Looking at Home Depot, Sears, JC Penney... and my first thought was, "Hey, let's look at Montgomery Wards." That was always one of my favorite places to Christmas shop, and we got our school clothes either there or Mervyn's (also gone now) every year. I just loved the holiday decorations at "Monkey Wards" though.

As a testament to those totally resistant to change, DH still insists on hiding the CD case every time we get out of the truck at a store somewhere. I tried telling him people don't break into cars to steal CDs anymore, especially not when they're in a CD wallet and there's only like, 16 of them. Mostly classic rock and Christmas music. But he insists... What can ya do?

[cyndileepea]

1979

I was born in November of 1979 so I barely qualify!

I remember when Jessica McClure fell in the well.
I remember when the space shuttle exploded.
I remember when The Simpsons was a new show.
I remember when Jessi did "drugs" on Saved by the Bell.
I remember when the first Iraq war began.
I remember wearing lots of neon.
I remember being disgusted by my cousin's Garbage Pail Kids.
I remember hearing "Material Girl" for the first time.
I remember going to a Debbie Gibson concert.

[spruce]

Originally Posted by SeekingSerenity

and my first thought was, "Hey, let's look at Montgomery Wards." That was always one of my favorite places to Christmas shop, and we got our school clothes either there or Mervyn's (also gone now) every year. I just loved the holiday decorations at "Monkey Wards" though.

I still have the "good" china my folks bought 40 years or so ago...at Monkey Wards. Teacups, teaplates, dessert plates, dinner plates, all white with gold trim (it is metallic, but if it's gold I"ll eat my own foot). I have the Mikasa sherry and daquiri glasses that they bought, also from MW. I try to take very good care of them, but time and breakage waits for no man.


Has anyone mentioned Cabbage Patch dolls? My mom got mine when a woman returened one at the PX and mom was standing right there to claim it. I loved that doll.

I collected football cards for years . I had about 25 shoeboxes full. (I wanted to quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys...yeah, I'm female). Usual story: Mom tossed them out during one move or another.

What about going outside to play and NOT BEING ALLOWED IN until dinner? And boy howdy, your tush better be sliding through the front door when the streetlights came on!

Boy George. Van Halen. Queen AC/DC

After School specials.

*sigh*

I went online this year for the holidays and collected a ton of original Strawberry Shortcake stuff for my 4yo. I saved all of mine from childhood, and I gave her that, too. The only SS she's allowed to rent (we don't get TV) is the one original DVD, and she has a collection of hardbound original SS books I bought when my 17yo was 4.

I miss roller skating. I might have to find a way to get back into that....not blading, but skating.

love, p

[spruce]

Originally Posted by cyndileepea

I was born in November of 1979 so I barely qualify!

I remember when the space shuttle exploded..

We were stationed in TX then, and all the classes watched it on huge TVs rolled into the rooms. Live.

It was so traumatic. I think I was in 6th grade that year. And the jokes that kids made after...they were horrible.

[owlgirl]

Born in 1975

This is fun! I remember being in kindergarten when it turned 1980 and it was a big deal.

I remember my first favorite song was Blondie "The tide is high and I'm moving on...."

I remember my mom was so into the 'new' microwave.

Afterschool specials on TV, jelly sandals, friendship bracelets, and the playing on the bars on the school playground....go Mary Lou!!

I remeber being able to swim in the old couples swimming pool on the weekend with all the neighborhood kids, the word lawsuit was foreign.

So much has changed!! Thanks for the memories!!

[da-tamsta]

I remember being the first people on the block to have a microwave oven...then my sister melted crayons in a butter tub ...destroying the tub

Also, I remember NOT having a TV. (Born in 74 too)

Then we got TV. Pippi Longstocking ruled.

Big Wheels. Went thru 2.

Plastic Skateboards.

We were the first with a computer ...and it was a "portable" Osborne 2. BTW, still works. Its in my garage. I took it to college and it worked great until I needed the internet!

[Caneel]

I just found this thread and holy cow is it ever taking me back!

I was born in 1971 and DH was born in 1966 so there are some major culture references that we missed from each other's time period.

Like Flashdance - it has been playing on HBO lately and I turn it on as background noise each time I see it on. DH claims he was no memory of this movie, at all. I just don't understand how he doesn't know Flashdance? Every girl wanted to be Jennifer Beals and every guy wanted to....Jennifer Beals.

Monkey Wards!?!?! I seriously thought Monkey Wards was my family's nickname for that store.

Swatch!!!!! I was the first person in my school to have a Swatch. My parents had gone to Germany when Swatch first came out and they brought me one home from the trip.

Pegged pants, I almost want to weep with the ultimate cool-ness of pegged pants.

My dad had an answering machine, likely the first commercially avaible model. It was huge with buttons the size of a pack of cigarettes, each button was that big.

My parents put no value in clothing, at all, unless it was on triple mark down clearance so I was never lucky enough to own a pair of Reeboks. One of my close friends had the hightops in, it seemed like, every color. Sigh.....

Whoever wrote about their DH worrying that someone would steal his CDs from the car, too funny! I remember a BF gettting a CD player for Christmas when they first came out. There were like 10 of us just sitting in his room, staring at it, playing a Tiffany CD over and over...."I think we're alone now...."

YM, Young Miss!!!!! I loved it. My mom got me a subscription and my friends and I wore out the pages. To a country girl, the content was so exotic.

We also had a VCR way before anyone else did. Two actually! My dad would go to some tape rental place during his business travel and bring home bags full of tapes. We would spend hours copying these movies, setting the alarm for every two hours or so to switch out the tapes. It was my job to keep a log on the counter so we knew where the new movies started.