Random Outdated 70's Experiences

[MIB41]

If I wanted to see KISS or any other rock band that I liked, I had to buy Circus, Hit Parader or 16 Magazine. Buying DVD's, let alone VHS tapes seemed like another universe away. And, of course, the internet was not even conceived on any level.

[Riffster]

kids being able to play outside til the street lights come on without anyone watching them

[jds1911a1]

talking to an operator to make a long distance call
Party lines - don't know what one is watch Pillow talk with Rock Hudson & Doris Day
wall mount rotary phones (of couse I only have to go to my kitchen to see one sucker still works)
kids riding bikes without their parents around and NO HELMETS
walking to the 5 and dime (Ben franklin's and woolworth's)
lay away at Kmart
Station wagons and the fun of riding in the 3rd row backwards WITHOUT BOOSTER SEATS and sometimes without our seat belts on
tv knobs and 7 channels incl the UHF band
vynyl bench seats
cars a family of 5 and the dog could actually ride in

[jds1911a1]

kids being able to play outside til the street lights come on without anyone watching them

or in reality was EVERYONE was watching them. anytime I did something my mom always got called by someone who saw it. All the parents looked out for the kids (partly because in the 70's there were still mom's at home during the day)

[Jmass]

Great thread!
Friday nights meant a trip from our small town to the bigger small town to go to TG&Y (no Wal Mart yet!) Got most of my Megos from the TG&Y!

Our high school football team had a cannon that was fired each time we scored a touchdown. As a kid, you could be out playing anywhere in town & hear the cannon, it was cool!

Speaking of being up late, was it Don Kirshner's (sp?) Rock Concert or The Midnight Special?

Fun stuff...

[theantiquetiger]

Seeing cable television for the first time at a friend's house about 1977, "Man you are lucky, you have 13 channels!!!!"

There was actually only about 8 channels that were watchable, I remember what they were:

2 - info channel (red/blue screen with scrolling local info)
3 - local NBC channel (still is)
4 - local church channel
5 - local ABC channel (still is)
6 - ???
7 - local CBS channel (still is)
8 - USA Network
9 - another local info channel
10 - Houston Independent channel
11 - WGN Chicago
12 - PBS (still is)
13 - TBS

If you were rich, you got a box with two buttons on it, push one, you got "The Movie Channel" (pre-HBO) and push the other button, you got Playboy (or some kind of adult channel). It was only on after 10 pm.

I learned if you put the TV on channel 13 and turned the fine tuning knob about twenty times, you would get channel "14" (The Movie Channel) an if you turned it about forty times, you got channel "15" (Playboy).

[jds1911a1]

tiger was the ?? possibly wpix new york. it and WOR new york 9 were some of the earliest "super stations" in the cable package

[Captain]

Ordering your Slurpee from the guy at the till....and hoping it came in a Joker cup (never did get that one!!)

Eating lunch at the classic "Red Grille" greasy spoon at the local Woolco....and then being allowed to cruise the toy department!

Seeing a new toy or comic on the shelves/stand for the first time when you were in the store and being completely blown away, devouring every tid bit of information you could get from the packaging just in case Mom or Dad wouldnt spring for one that trip!

[theantiquetiger]

tiger was the ?? possibly wpix new york. it and WOR new york 9 were some of the earliest "super stations" in the cable package

No, we only had TBS, WGN, and a Houston independent channel. Channel 6 may have been a Home Shopping Network style channel.

[Marvelmania]

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

[UnderdogDJLSW]

Going to the toy store and knowing that the toy you saw at the beginning of the year would still be around at holiday time. No limited runs, no collector's editions, etc.

going to the duck pin bowling alley and getting the grape or orange soda, with real glass bottles, from the machine that had the bottle opener built in and the slots on the side to return the empty bottle. Not to mention the bowling itself.

[Adam West]

Being able to make prank phone calls without caller id or someone being able to dial *69.

Eating any sugary snack or calorie packed treat and not gaining a single ounce

Never having to worry about grown up things.

[kingdom warrior]

Playing My Records on my Dad's record player that looked liked a coffin with 8 track and cassette....

Watching a Tv with the wood box that sat on the floor.

Having that christmas feeling for real.

My Mom making us Hamburgers on Friday nights before watching our programs. she let us eat it in front of the TV.

Going to the the Local shopping plaza and seeing Megos on the shelves and trying real hard to choose one cause Mom was getting ready to pay and she said choose now..Oh the delight

[Seeker]

Jolly green giant commercials. He was one scary dude.

SSP crash up derby set.

Major Matt Mason toys.

For that matter actually believing that by 1999 we would have moon bases and flying cars and robots. What the hell happened?

[rche]

We had a wall mounted phone in the kitchen with a retractable cord that was just a little too short to reach anything. If you were holding it between your shoulder and ear, it would always jerk away when you hit the end of the tether and then shoot back across the room before you could grab it.

That is something that will never happen to me again. If I drop my phone now, it just lands in the sink and shorts out.