The Wacky 70's

retrorussell · March 15, 2011, 09:40:25 PM

And this place opened in 1977:

These guys really took off in the '70s..

And these music shows were big:

DANCE FEVER!
And..

And

Trevor · March 16, 2011, 10:24:42 AM

Growing up in the 1970's, there is one horror that I am glad has not resurfaced: the safari suit!

The Burgomaster · March 16, 2011, 11:09:47 AM

Here are some of my fond memories of the 1970s:

* Streaking - What a great concept: running around naked in public.
* Hairstyles - Especially afros and perms (even on white males!)
* C.B. radios - Who didn't have a C.B. radio? I had one in my bedroom when I was about 12 years old!
* TV variety shows - Such as Carol Burnett, Donnie and Marie, The Captain and Tenille, and Tony Orlando and Dawn
* Movies released to theaters "unrated" - With the warning, "No one under 17 will be admitted" (even your parents couldn't get you in!) DAWN OF THE DEAD is an example (although, I saw it in a theater that paid no attention to movie ratings and would let anyone in regardless of their age)
* Rollerskating - And even worse, DISCO roller skating
* Roller Derby - I used to watch it sometimes on Saturdays, right after wrestling!
* Bicentennial Minutes - In the months leading up to July 4, 1976, they would have "Bicentennial Minutes" on TV. It would be about a 2 minute "filler" between programs where a famous person would summarize key events that occurred on that day in the U.S. in 1776.
* Mr. Coffee - Probably the most famous home coffee machine, and the pitchman was Joe DiMaggio!
* Space Food sticks - They probably really came out in the late 1960s. They advertised them as being "what the astronauts eat" (yeah, sure). They came in various flavors like chocolate and peanut butter.
* Crackfire Rifles - I loved mine. It was a toy rifle. You would cock it and then pull the trigger and an authentic rifle sound would come out of a speaker built into the rifle.
* Platform shoes - I had a pair.
* Leisure suits - I had two. Both were denim. One was navy blue, the other was off-white.
* Polyester shirts - I had several, with huge flowers on them.
* Wacky Packages - Chewing gum that came with trading cards/stickers that were parodies of actual products (such as "Coverghoul" make-up, which was a parody of Cover Girl make-up).

I may be back later with more!

AndyC · March 16, 2011, 11:13:27 AM

Banana seat bikes, with ape hangers and a sissy bar. Metallic flake on everything.

Flick James · March 16, 2011, 01:01:44 PM

Quote from: The Burgomaster on March 16, 2011, 11:09:47 AM
Here are some of my fond memories of the 1970s:

* Streaking - What a great concept: running around naked in public.
* Hairstyles - Especially afros and perms (even on white males!)
* C.B. radios - Who didn't have a C.B. radio? I had one in my bedroom when I was about 12 years old!
* TV variety shows - Such as Carol Burnett, Donnie and Marie, The Captain and Tenille, and Tony Orlando and Dawn
* Movies released to theaters "unrated" - With the warning, "No one under 17 will be admitted" (even your parents couldn't get you in!) DAWN OF THE DEAD is an example (although, I saw it in a theater that paid no attention to movie ratings and would let anyone in regardless of their age)
* Rollerskating - And even worse, DISCO roller skating
* Roller Derby - I used to watch it sometimes on Saturdays, right after wrestling!
* Bicentennial Minutes - In the months leading up to July 4, 1976, they would have "Bicentennial Minutes" on TV. It would be about a 2 minute "filler" between programs where a famous person would summarize key events that occurred on that day in the U.S. in 1776.
* Mr. Coffee - Probably the most famous home coffee machine, and the pitchman was Joe DiMaggio!
* Space Food sticks - They probably really came out in the late 1960s. They advertised them as being "what the astronauts eat" (yeah, sure). They came in various flavors like chocolate and peanut butter.
* Crackfire Rifles - I loved mine. It was a toy rifle. You would cock it and then pull the trigger and an authentic rifle sound would come out of a speaker built into the rifle.
* Platform shoes - I had a pair.
* Leisure suits - I had two. Both were denim. One was navy blue, the other was off-white.
* Polyester shirts - I had several, with huge flowers on them.
* Wacky Packages - Chewing gum that came with trading cards/stickers that were parodies of actual products (such as "Coverghoul" make-up, which was a parody of Cover Girl make-up).

I may be back later with more!

Some outstanding input! I had polyester shirts too. I had a really wierd one in 1978 that had a sci-fi theme to it in that it had spaceships fighting each other all over it. The funny thing was that it was obviously a rip-off of Star Wars in that the fighting ships kind of resembled tie-fighters and x-wings, but not quite. Wierd shirt.

My Dad was a CB radio nut. Had one in his car.

My step-dad sported a perm in the 70's. He had wispy straight hair that was thinning and he admitted that he did the perm because it made him look like he had thicker hair. It actually looked extremely cheesy.

VARIETY SHOWS! Goodness, my family would gather around the tube to watch almost all of those shows you mentioned religiously. Don't forget Sonney and Cher!

The Burgomaster · March 16, 2011, 01:32:59 PM

Quote from: Flick James on March 16, 2011, 01:01:44 PM
Quote from: The Burgomaster on March 16, 2011, 11:09:47 AM
Here are some of my fond memories of the 1970s:

* Streaking - What a great concept: running around naked in public.
* Hairstyles - Especially afros and perms (even on white males!)
* C.B. radios - Who didn't have a C.B. radio? I had one in my bedroom when I was about 12 years old!
* TV variety shows - Such as Carol Burnett, Donnie and Marie, The Captain and Tenille, and Tony Orlando and Dawn
* Movies released to theaters "unrated" - With the warning, "No one under 17 will be admitted" (even your parents couldn't get you in!) DAWN OF THE DEAD is an example (although, I saw it in a theater that paid no attention to movie ratings and would let anyone in regardless of their age)
* Rollerskating - And even worse, DISCO roller skating
* Roller Derby - I used to watch it sometimes on Saturdays, right after wrestling!
* Bicentennial Minutes - In the months leading up to July 4, 1976, they would have "Bicentennial Minutes" on TV. It would be about a 2 minute "filler" between programs where a famous person would summarize key events that occurred on that day in the U.S. in 1776.
* Mr. Coffee - Probably the most famous home coffee machine, and the pitchman was Joe DiMaggio!
* Space Food sticks - They probably really came out in the late 1960s. They advertised them as being "what the astronauts eat" (yeah, sure). They came in various flavors like chocolate and peanut butter.
* Crackfire Rifles - I loved mine. It was a toy rifle. You would cock it and then pull the trigger and an authentic rifle sound would come out of a speaker built into the rifle.
* Platform shoes - I had a pair.
* Leisure suits - I had two. Both were denim. One was navy blue, the other was off-white.
* Polyester shirts - I had several, with huge flowers on them.
* Wacky Packages - Chewing gum that came with trading cards/stickers that were parodies of actual products (such as "Coverghoul" make-up, which was a parody of Cover Girl make-up).

I may be back later with more!

Some outstanding input! I had polyester shirts too. I had a really wierd one in 1978 that had a sci-fi theme to it in that it had spaceships fighting each other all over it. The funny thing was that it was obviously a rip-off of Star Wars in that the fighting ships kind of resembled tie-fighters and x-wings, but not quite. Wierd shirt.

My Dad was a CB radio nut. Had one in his car.

My step-dad sported a perm in the 70's. He had wispy straight hair that was thinning and he admitted that he did the perm because it made him look like he had thicker hair. It actually looked extremely cheesy.

VARIETY SHOWS! Goodness, my family would gather around the tube to watch almost all of those shows you mentioned religiously. Don't forget Sonney and Cher!

Oh yeah, Sonny & Cher! And let's not forget Dean Martin and Flip Wilson!

The Burgomaster · March 16, 2011, 01:42:41 PM

Here are some more. Let's not forget:

* Mood Rings - My mom had one.
* Ginsu Knives - Mom had a set of these, too.
* "Keep on Truckin'" T-shirts
* Wide belts with huge buckles
* Pop Rocks - The world's most dangerous exploding candy!
* Marathon Bars - Candy bars that were long, thin, and braided. "Marathon . . . lasts a good, long time."
* Sensurround - Recently covered in another thread
* Dynamite 8 - Portable 8-track tape player shaped like a detonator. You pushed the plunger to change tracks.
* Silly string
* Count Chocula, Frankenberry, and Boo Berry Cereal
* Jerry Lewis games - Board games endorsed and advertised by Jerry Lewis!

More to come . . .

The Burgomaster · March 16, 2011, 01:46:14 PM

Quote from: AndyC on March 16, 2011, 11:13:27 AM
Banana seat bikes, with ape hangers and a sissy bar. Metallic flake on everything.

I had an orange bike with black trim. The banana seat was black with gold, metallic stripes.

AndyC · March 16, 2011, 02:37:26 PM

Big cars with big engines. In particular, the new more affordable high-performance cars that started appearing in the late 60s.

And almost a 70s fad in itself - the Firebird Trans Am, popularized by Smokey and the Bandit.

Mind you, the average family sedan had a big high-output V8 in it. Back in high school, a buddy of mine used to drive his dad's Buick Electra, which was maybe 12 years old at that time, but already totally different from just about everything on the road. It was a tank. Roomy interior, tons of leg space, bench seats like couches, wall-to-wall taillights, vast trunk space, and thick, heavy body panels. In a collision, its crumple zone would be the other car. Plus, it had a 455 big block in it. I was once riding along when he got into an impromptu back-road drag race with another friend who was attempting to pass him. Took the thing (a beat-up old family sedan) up to just about 120mph, no problem. That would be 200kph, or two and a half times the speed limit on that road. Left the other guy in the dust. Can't say I've gone that fast in any other vehicle that didn't have wings.

And, of course, that car became such a rarity on the road because of the shift to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars in North America, thanks to oil prices in the mid-70s shooting up to just about the level they're at today, if you adjust for inflation, and not coming down again until well into the 80s. It always gets me when I see a picture from the 70s, or a display of restored cars from that time. It's as if I've forgotten the roads being full of those when I was a kid. We had a pair of 350-equipped boats at our house into the early 80s - a '73 Catalina and a '77 Suburban. It's become hard to imagine what used to be commonplace.

My mom used to drive us around in a car just like this one, only brown.

It was our smaller second car, for everyday errands and grocery shopping.

Allhallowsday · March 16, 2011, 04:28:05 PM

SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP4N27kbMdk

LEVIS in colors like rust:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YZSG12-3Vg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfloPU6VpKc

Freaky TV commercials:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2U-lP-SOSQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt-TE6JYC2s&feature=related

The Burgomaster · March 16, 2011, 04:35:07 PM

Allhallowsday almost made me cry. What great memories.

RCMerchant · March 16, 2011, 05:02:05 PM

Don't forget-the X rated film went legit with DEEP THROAT. But you actually had to go to a theater to see it! (I couldn't I didn't turn 18 untill 1980

)
Certain theaters specialized in porn. And with the availability of vhs tapes in the late 70's and early 80's-thearical porn died.

RCMerchant · March 16, 2011, 05:53:49 PM

Here's MY 70's....

My sister Wendy....
Dig the tv with legs...!

Left to right-My Uncle Ronny (yes-I was named after him-he named his son Ronny too!),my Uncle Doug-he was a TV repair man,Grandpa Hammer (my Grandpa Merchant died before I was born-of alcholism),my Dad, and some kid-who has the only NORMAL looking pants of the bunch!