Wednesday, March 24, 2010
10:18 PM
I TOLD You It Wasn't Puppy Love
Notebooks with Donny and David on the front. I wanted these more than you could possibly know but they could not be found here in craptown. No retailer here had enough sense to know to order such things. That was true when I was a kid and it's still true today. Have I mentioned how much I hate this town? Yeah. I do. I really, really, REALLY do. But I digress. Again.
CB's parents took her school shopping in Tulsa just before our 5th grade year began and so she got to get the Donny Osmond notebook. I'm pretty sure I've talked about it here before but I've never had a picture of it before. I found this vintage ad while doing related research for this blog. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. It sure brings back memories and as I said in an earlier post, if I ever run across one of these notebooks someday, I'm going to buy it. 2010 me doesn't have much use for one but 1971 me will enjoy the heck out of it.
10:07 PM
All This and Disco, Too????
Saturday Night Fever started a disco craze that lasted through most of my high school years. In my lifetime, I consider the disco era to be the worst, most pathetic music period ever. I listened to it because that's pretty much all they played on the radio and I admit that there are a couple of Bee Gees songs that, for one reason or another, I still like but overall, disco music makes me ashamed to be a late 70's teen. Every freaking song on the radio was a disco dance tune and everyone in the world was trying to learn the dances from the movie. My sister-in-law at the time bought the special edition album that came with dance instructions, etc. She talked me into doing some of the dances with her. LOL We laughed a lot doing it but didn't accomplish much because she had very little rhythm and I loved her too much to tell her so.
Saturday Night Fever, the movie, was a blockbuster "event" in America. It was one of the few movies that my mom took me to see. She, Linda, April, and I went to see it one spring night. None of us had ever heard of John Travolta or disco until that night. I'll never forget seeing it for the first time or more importantly, our girl's night out while my brother was doing his ambulance driver thing which kept him away from home overnight three or four days per week. Those were innocent, fun times for us. Four generations of Y**** girls just hanging out, keeping one another company, and making memories.
As the whole SNF thing hit fever pitch, the popular guys at school started wearing the most sh*teous clothes imaginable. We're talking tight, polyester bell-bottomed pants in shiny colors, nauseatingly patterned polyester shirts that they wore open almost to their navel, and unbelievably tall platform shoes. Boys in high heels. Wow. As though the music wasn't bad enough, SNF turned every cute guy at MHS into a flamer. It was gross. I remember being so thankful when, during my senior year of high school, the SNF influence FINALLY began to wane and the school jocks traded in their polyester disco clothes for preppy, sporty wear. I have always loved all things preppy so it was a very welcome social and fashion shift to say the least.
*Related: The year was 1977 and I was in my first year of high school. That was one sucktastic year for me. I had been forced to leave my cozy jr. high (not that the jr. high years weren't their own kind of hell) and move up to high school, I dropped basketball from my schedule just so I could go home earlier because I hated high school so bad that first semester, especially, - my parents got a divorce, I went from an 8th grade weight of 98 pounds to about 130 due to a previous depressed summer spent eating my dark, frightened, scared feelings, and serious acne invaded every inch of my face. My best friend had just moved to Alaska and my next best friend got a job in order to save up for a car, which meant that she was almost never available to hang out anymore because she worked almost every evening after school. My mom started dating, my dad got remarried, a classmate was killed in a freak accident, Jerry Hull became my band director (a whole post about that creature coming soon), and my boyfriend who I was crazy about at the time, dumped me. We had to move from my childhood home to a cold, lonely apartment, and my dad gave all f my priceless childhood treasures away to total strangers. And if I sat here for a few minutes, I could think of more dung that rained down upon my head that year. 9th grade was one long, agonizing nightmare for me and the fact that I was able to continually talk myself out of putting a gun to my head during those dark, painful days is a miracle. I was miserable. So every time I see some reference to SNF or hear Bee Gees music, I am taken back to that time when the bottom dropped out from under me leaving me lost, lonely, broken, insecure, and convinced that life would never, ever be good again.
Me, January 1977
Taken out at Indianola, the morning Cathey left to go back to Alaska after spending Christmas break with me. Sad day, sad year.
7:45 PM
The Famous A & W Change Maker
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
9:58 PM
The MC Lodge
This was a very happenin' kind of place when I was a little girl. My parents and their friends liked to go there to eat or even just for coffee/cokes. I'm not sure why people started going to a local motel for that when there were plenty of other places. Maybe it was because the McHoma stayed open all night or something? Either way, I have fond memories of going there with my family. I especially loved going there during the summer because I could see the pool while eating. I was born fascinated and drawn to all things swimming pool so that was a big deal to me.
9:43 PM
More Beatles Memorabilia
9:38 PM
Teen Idol Lunch Boxes
A lunch box with really popular music artists was not something you could ever find in our one-horse town. Only kids whose parents took them shopping in "big cities" got such awesome things. Otherwise, I would have had this one, as well as the Donny Osmond or David Cassidy lunch boxes I always wanted.
Dear town that I grew up in,
For this reason and many more, you suck.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
4:57 AM
Times Gone By
Thursday, March 11, 2010
6:33 AM
Girl Stuff
I've never understood why human beings need to smell anything but clean. I've always figured that if you bathe properly and regularly with good soap and shampoo, wear clean clothes, and a reliable deodorant/perspirant, then your body should smell quite fresh on it's own. But of coures, cologne/perfume is a trillion dollar business so I'm fighting a losing battle in my stance against all things smally in an expensive bottle. I have asthma so I can't wear anything scented at all today. I look back to the days when I occasionally DID wear some cologne and realize it made me feel sick then too, I just didn't know that sick feeling had anything to do with that which I was wearing. So even though I admit that they sometimes do come up with some bottled scents that are nice, I am still, for the most part, very anti-smelly stuff.
Still, when I was a young teen, all of my friends wore the popular teen scents of the day so I asked my mom to get some for me, as well. I very rarely put any of it on but somehow it made me feel more "teenish" to own it. lol "Sweet Honesty" and "Blue Jeans" were my two favorites. They fit my personality. Girly without being too prissy. Those were good tomboy scents and I could live with them when necessary. I bought the "Blue Jeans" brand just becaues I liked the bottle and I adored my blue jeans. lol I don't think I ever particularly cared for the actual scent. LOL But a bottle of each of these colognes always sat on my dresser during high school and early college. Even the most committed of tomboys has to have a few of the status quo girly accessories. Ask me how many unused purses I owned back then if you don't believe me. lolol
6:22 AM
Time For Timer!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_for_Timer
5:46 AM
Duh-Duhn......
Jaws was THE "event" movie of my childhood. Why? I couldn't tell you. I guess just because it was something new. Everybody had to go and see it. It was hailed as the scariest movie in cinematic history. It did not live up to that hype. We kids did enjoy going to see it together though and we all pretended to be just as scared as the industry wanted us to be because....well.....we were 13 and we had nothing better to do on a Friday night after football and basketball ended. lol It was an o.k. movie. It had it's moments of shock value but for the most part, we all just joked from scene to scene about who was surely going to get eaten next. Here in O*******, there are no beaches or oceans so I think that had a lot to do with us feeling quite ridiculously removed from the fear that this movie promised to bring to it's audiences. There are no sharks in Lake Mc******* or Lake E****** and those were the only two bodies of water that any of us had any plans of visiting. (I was 19 before I finally got to see an ocean up close and personal for the first time. Actually that was the only time I've seen an ocean up close. I dont' come from a family of world travelers, to say the least.)
The movie was a huge hit in America and so it yielded all kinds of movie-related merchandise that was quickly marketed to us kids. The holy grail of all of that was the famous Jaws t-shirt. There have been others since then but the original was a light blue, tid-dye sort of design with the movie logo on the front. I had one and I wish I had hung onto it because an authentice vintage Jaws shirt is probably worth a nice little chunk of change today.
5:35 AM
Bass Weejuns
As I have mentioned more than once, penny loafers have long been my favorite leather shoe in the world. (And getting them at Christmas? Well, that was just all the better!) When I was growing up, the brand to have was Bass, and then later, Dexter, which was actually made by Bass. No other brand would do. Those were the ones that had the best leather and the sleekest design. Everything else was just a cheap knock-off. As all of my friends will tell you, I am a shoe snob of the highest order. When I have to walk into Payless with my kids during the summer to look for fun little slip on sandals, etc. I offer a sincere apology to my name brand shoes for making them go in there and for making them see the atrocity that is vinyl and rubber shoe wear. lol For many years, I wouldn't even walk in there if I was wearing one of my expensive Cole Haans. I just couldn't be responsible for the clashing of such polar opposite worlds.
So you can imagine why it is that all these years later, I am most distraught to learn that Payless has struck a deal with a handful of name brand shoe companies whose popularity has waned a bit, to market their shoes in their stores. One of those brands??? Bass!!!! A Bass penny loafer for sale in a Payless Shoe Store???? Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! That makes marriage between two people of the same s*x seem completely benign. I mean, two men getting married - that's gross. That's bad. But a Bass real leather shoe setting on a shelf next to vinyl Payless store brand shoes? No. Absolutely not.
I mean it. I won't have it.
Clearly, the world is ending.
5:20 AM
Wacky Packages
My friends and I LOVED these things!!! (We called them "Wacky Packs") Stickers that looked just like name brand products only with "wacky" pseudo names instead. We stuck these things all over our notebooks and book covers at school. We thought they were really clever.
Some things you just can't ever explain so you just have to call it what it is and move on. LOL
5:16 AM
Peace Signs and Patriotism from the Anti-War Generation
For the most part, kids my age didn't buy this stuff but all of our older brothers and sisters had and loved this crap. Right, Bernie? lol I've always found it interesting and funny how the hippies were anti-everything relating to government and the U.S.A. and yet, they were the generation who wrote all of the "This Land Is Your Land" type songs and they were the ones who put the flag on everything in sight. LOL
Drugs are bad, kids. Just say no.
LOLOL
5:10 AM
The T.V.'s of My Youth
5:07 AM
Frustration Ball
Getting to the princess in Nintendo Mario was more fun but none more challenging. lol
5:00 AM
Paper Mate Pens
There was a time when a simple ink pen warranted this kind of fanfare. Paper Mate and Bic had it going on. : )
4:55 AM
Before There Were Calculators
4:52 AM
The Only Medicine I Ever Took Without A Fight
The only tolerable children's medicine ever invented. I still feel warm inside when I see pics of this adorable little pink bottle. I've already mentioned it here on the blog but this is a new ad that I found. I think it's so sweet and it definitely reminds me of life on Madison Avenue with Ginger Bear at the helm, wiping away my tears, kissing my boo boo's, and staying up late into the night wiping my forehead with a cold rag, keeping me company until the Bayer aspirin did it' work and chased my fevers and headaches away. I love you so much, Mama.
Last month, when I was diagnosed with an enlarged heart and high blood pressure, I was put back on a daily dose of children's aspirin. I never expected to be carrying a bottle of this stuff around again in my life. I didn't even give it to my children when they were little because Tylenol was deemed safer. But here I am, at the age of *cough* 28 *cough*, depending on it to save the day again. : )
4:46 AM
O.K., So It Was A Yamaha
Remember in an earlier post when I said I thought these were made by Honda? Yeah. I was wrong. Apparently it was Yamaha. At any rate, how could you not, (even today) fall in love with this cute little motorcycle?
4:44 AM
Madge
This commercial was a staple of my childhood. "You're soaking in it!" lol
4:43 AM
English Leather
If you grew up in America in the late '60's/early '70's, you got a lot of this crap from relatives who were too lazy too put some thought into buying you a real gift. My poor dad cleaned up on Brut and Enlgish Leather at Christmas because everyone on my mom's side of the family got it for him. I'm sure he was thrilled. Who doesn't want soap for Christmas?
"No! Really! I'm GLAD you didn't get me a guitar, golf clubs, or a nice shirt, even! Soap on a Rope is MUCH better!"
LOL Dads get so ripped off on gift-giving holidays.
4:38 AM
My First Bike
My very first bike looked exactly like these and it was green. I LOVED that thing so much!!!
4:35 AM
The Envy of the Neighborhood lol
Our freezer had a bottom freezer which I loved because it was just my size and the freezer is the area where we kept all of the ggod stuff like ice cream and popsicles. It was a brilliant design. lol My needs were simple back then. lol
It's amazing to see what fridge was the "top of the line gotta have item of the day" back then and then compare it to the ones that are on sale today. Who ever dreamed they would one day put televisions inside if refrigerators? Woot! Attach a toilet and a La-z-boy and I will never have to leave the kitchen. lol
4:28 AM
Vintage Christmas Magazine Ads
4:23 AM
Priceless Christmas Treasures
Nothing fills me with the warmth of childhood Christmas memories like the vintage decorations that have always hung on our family tree at Mom's and Dad's house. I treasure those priceless things more than I could possibly tell you. There are no modern-day decorations that can begin to compare to these.
4:19 AM
Very Early '70's Toy Catalog Ads
There was nothing more exciting than perusing the new Christmas catalogs during December. I STILL love to do that today! I'll never, ever outgrow my love for toys and Christmas!
Oh, and check out those prices! I wish fun things were that inexpensive today.
4:07 AM
Ankh Ring
These were very popular for awhile. This is a typical ad you could find at the back of comic books and various magazines.
4:06 AM
Class Action Lawsuit Long Overdue lol
LOLOLOL I'm just going to let this one stand on it's own.
But FYI: There has never been and there will never be a feminine product absorbent enough to allow you to wear white shorts while riding a bicycle. The lie. Big time.
Cool bikes, though. ; )
4:02 AM
The Pepsi Generation
Remember when it was cool to be a part of the Pepsi generation? I temporarily switched to Pepsi and I didn't even really like it. That was some great marketing. lol
4:00 AM
Harley?
I remember thinking that these were just the coolest looking cycles!
Also, in an earlier post, I wrote about a toy motorcycle that Bernie and I used to buy often. This is the cycle that that toy was designed to look like except I THINK they were Hondas. I'm not sure about that, though. I loved those things and I continue my quest to find one on ebay.
3:57 AM
Vintage Car Ads
Ralph and Pokie got one of these Tornado's. I remember that being a very big deal. It had a stick shift in the middle floorboard which is something I had never seen before. It was an automatic vehicle but the stickshift made it look and feel like a race car to me. I used to ride with R & P sometimes when we would all go on multi-car outings and Ralph would always let me do the shifting. Tre chic. I thought that was something else!
Who didn't LOVE the Mustang?????
3:50 AM
1960's Social Politics
3:47 AM
Late '60's/Eearly 70's Fashion Ads
