Random Outdated 70's Experiences

[DocDrako]

Waking up in the summertime to the sound of my Grandpa mowing the lawn and the smell of the freshly cut grass.

Falling asleep and "immediately" waking up and finding that it was morning.

Finding out about an upcoming film from the television commercial.

Getting a haircut at a real Barber shop.

Sleeping on the front porch in the summertime without fear of death.

Taking glass soda bottles back to the store for .10 cents each, and buying candy and junk. (One time I bought these chocolate flavored cookies that were really good. I found out later that they were Dog Cookies. They tasted good.)

Walking into an arcade and being pleasantly assaulted by the awesome sound of 100 video games all going at once.

Dropping a quarter in a video game at the arcade.

Going into my classroom for the first time each month and finding new decor. October = Halloween, November = Autumn Leaves and such, December = Christmas, etc.

[60'schild]

Buying 4 comics for just over a dollar! Playing with plastic guns and not worrying about it being mistaken for a real one.

Getting your comics at a drugstore, the kind that still had a counter and a row of tall swivel chairs where you could get a milkshake too (we called them frappes in metro Boston back then)!

[livingdead70]

Buying comics off those spinner racks, do they even still have those out there anywhere?
Variety shows!!!!! They are kinda coming around here and there, but man remember all of them back then?
Remember 3PO and R2 on Donnie and Marie?
trey

[Evel KMego]

Yeah spinner rack comics rocked! My mom would drop me off at our local drug store and go shopping around town while I read through and picked out a handful of comics to buy. No one would even think of leaving their child in a store by themselves for a half hour or more on their own nowadays!!!!

[HardyGirl]

I'm ressurecting this thread b/c A) my mom was sick when it was originally posted and B) You know I'm the retro diva.

(BTW...I've really enjoyed reading the replies! Great thread Seeker, wherever you are!)

Bars & tones on the TV before the Saturday morning cartoons started

Having a remote control TV set and watching the dial spin all by itself!

Dynamite magazines at book order time!

Getting in trouble w/ Mom for using "Dial-a-Santa" when the phone bill came.

Being able to go outside w/ $1 and not worrying about money for the rest of the day.

Kids having those Star Wars stickers stuck to their desks at school and wondering what this phenomenom was all about.

Having my world be a 3 block radius (school, church, grocery store, day camp, toy store), and being able to walk it all by myself!

At back to school time, begging Mom for the latest cool new Buster Brown shoes.

Mom using the Yule Log on TV for atmosphere on Xmas Eve.

How the cereal aisle and the cake mix aisle at the store seemed so enormous!

Fun cereal mascots w/ their own backstories, cool prizes in the box, (and records outside of them), and not worrying about sugar or calorie content.

Waiting for Friday night for the newest ep of the Brady Bunch and Partridge Family!

Prizes out of Wonder Bread packages

Mom making Jolly Time popcorn in the cast iron skillet. After she put it in the mixing bowl, my job would be to take a huge lump of BUTTER and mix it all around the popcorn w/ my CLEAN bare hands, and then getting to lick all the butter off when I was done.

[CrimsonGhost]

I remember recording tv shows on cassette. I would record parts of Happy Days and Threes Company and whatever to listen to later. You could always hear the hum of the tv.
I would try to record some of the good live performances from awards shows too.

There used to be a Toy Castle downtown. It was pretty small as I remember it (nowhere near the size of the Kmart and Woolworths that I loved so much) and it was dark. They had tons of toys, obviously, but also they would make carmel corn in the back where the rubber masks were, and the whole place smelled like carmel. I remember they had an entire wall behind the counter covered with Megos and I also remember thinking the female ones looking like they were just a plush body so I never bought any. I also remember seeing the first Star Wars figures there, but all the Lukes and Hans were gone. So I settled for C3P-0. Later that day at Kmart, they had a bunch more for cheaper, so my mom told me to go ahead and pick out another one. I picked Chewie (because, again, all the Lukes and Hans were gone).

I remember meeting Darth Vader and a Jawa at a local car dealers. They were playing Star Wars on a big screen. Anyway, at one point, Darth probably couldn't see too well and tripped over the Jawa. He stumbled, but didn't fall. True to character, he shook up the Jawa a bit to teach him a lesson. I got their autographs too...they signed "Darth Vader" and "JAWA". Weird, in retrospect.

[Doc]

Getting all those little toys or glasses every time you fillied up at the gas station.

Gumball machines that were actually a penny.

Bikes with bananna seats and those orange flags.

Kung fu theater on Saturdays

[Doc]

The local movie theater had those huge spot lights on the roof.

The local drive in shot off fireworks at intermission.

[DocDrako]

I miss the week-long vacation we'd take every summer, the whole family, to my Aunt Geneva's. My Dad and my uncle would often plan a fishing trip, and then we'd all pack up and go camping/fishing for a few days. Those week-long trips seemed to last forever. Uncle Harold's chopsticks, the Tupperware, the spring thing by the front door of their trailer that made that awesome metallic boing sound, and the absolute silence of the trailer park at night. Aunt Geneva's dog Sonny would only eat cat food. Uncle Harold was Chinese, and that was the coolest thing to us. He was kind of an enigma, and rarely joined in conversation. He was up every day before the sun and in bed early. Aunt Geneva had a mole on her cheek with a hair growing out of it that would "shock" us when she kissed us. Those were great times.

[HardyGirl]

I just thought of a few more:

Watching Evel Knievel or Muhammad Ali insult Howard Cosell on ABC's Wide World Of Sports

Staying up late to watch Carol Burnett on Saturday nights

When change you found in the couch cushions was good for an ice-cream bar, a pack of bubble gum cards or a comic book!

Watching Part 1 of a cliffhanger on your fave weekly series, and being extra good so you could stay up and watch Part 2 the following week!

[TrueDave]

Having our underoos banned in Grade School becuase playing superfriends got too many kids arms and legs broke. ( My girlfriend Kim Burke broke her arm but it had NOthing to do with Superfriends! THAT was why we lost the jungle gym and slide.)

[saildog]

Looking forward to comic books I actually wanted to read and paying 25cents for them.

Yeah, those Marvel Covers in the 70s made me want them all!!!!

[MIB41]

The family gathering around the television to watch the NBC Sunday night Mystery movie, usually with Columbo or McMillian and Wife. Here's the opening sequence to take you back...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OleZDTgEglQ

[HardyGirl]

The family gathering around the television to watch the NBC Sunday night Mystery movie, usually with Columbo or McMillian and Wife. Here's the opening sequence to take you back...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OleZDTgEglQ

My mom and I used to watch McMillan and Wife together when I was a kid. I always thought Susan St. James was so cool in that.

[MIB41]

My mom and I used to watch McMillan and Wife together when I was a kid. I always thought Susan St. James was so cool in that.

Yeah, Rock Hudson was actually a childhood hero of mine when I was a kid. I always thought he was so cool. Him, Guy Williams, and Adam West were like my big heroes. People these days have NO IDEA how devastating it was to hear he was switching hitting for the other team.