Air Hockey:

Sometime around '74 we got a set, which ironically is the year the above was taken (for the record I have no idea who that is. It's not my pic, I found it in a random image search, but it was dated). A childhood friend also got one that same year. These always ended up in people's basements, which I guess would be natural because they just don't seem to belong in a living room. We never really played it much because I hated it; I didn't like the game because I always lost - I really sucked at air hockey.

Memorial Day 2012:

Freedom is never free.

A tv classic:

Above is from the very last episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Mary decided to end the show while it was still doing well in the ratings; however, the show's premise was beginning to get a little out-dated, and a woman making it on her own was less of a novelty than it was in 1970 when the show first aired, and women's lib wasn't quite as cosmopolitan. I think Mary's timing was pretty good, the show couldn't have stayed on top forever. Even today the show holds up pretty well. For sitcoms it was truly a masterpiece. There will never be another like it. It will always be one of my all-time faves. I really miss these guys.

Bananas magazine:

Bananas was a magazine that was for sale through Scholastic at school, during the time Dynamite was offered. It was basically for the older kids, while Dynamite was geared toward the younger kids. I was strictly a Dynamite fan, and by the time I had outgrown Dynamite I was basically over the whole concept of both magazines. I did purchase one Bananas mag back in the day: it wasn't the above, but it was the issue that featured Bo Derek. I was hoping there'd be a couple of shots of Bo in the wet, white dress where you could see her nipples, but there wasn't a nipple shot in the whole book.... not even a poster or anything. I don't think there was a puzzle page. No fun stuff at all. I was severely disappointed, to say the least.

Random Find:

I didn't really have anything else to post today, so I thought I'd post a pic from The Brady Bunch when the kids walked in on Marcia and Davy Jones goin' at it on the sofa ...

From "Castles In The Air" by Don McLean:

"And if she asks you why, you can tell her that I told you that I'm tired of castles in the air. I've got a dream I want the world to share; in castle walls just leave me to despair. Hills of forest green where the mountains touch the sky - a dream come true, I'll live there 'til I die. I'm asking you to say my last goodbye. The love we knew ain't worth another try. Save me from all the trouble and the pain, I know I'm weak but I can't face that girl again. Tell her the reasons why I can't remain - perhaps she'll understand if you tell it to her plain. Oh, but how can words express the feel of sunlight in the morning, in the hills far away from strife. I need a country woman for my wife. For I cannot be part of her "cocktail generation partner's waltz", devoid of all romance - the music plays and everyone must dance; I'm bowing out, I need a second chance."

Clueless:

When I heard "Bad Girls" for the first time, I was 11 years old. I had no idea she was singing about prostitutes. I thought she was singing about a bunch of girls who were staying out late past their bedtimes without their parents' permission. And for the life of me I couldn't figure out why they were asking strange men for money; although if I'd seen the album cover at the time I probably would've figured it out..

Goodbye Donna Summer:

The late '70s wouldn't have been the same without her. I'm sad to hear she passed on, she was one of a kind. I know she'll be missed by many.

Candy wax:

These were way better than the wax lips. I don't remember being able to make these whistle too much, but I do remember the taste, and how chewing on candy wax would make my jaw ache after about 15 minutes..

Romper Stompers:

One of my first major let-downs, when the actual product failed to live up to the marketing hype. They looked like so much fun on tv. I thought they'd make me alot taller. And then when I was told I wasn't allowed to use them on the stairs, well I just totally lost interest...

Question:

So which phone did you choose in '79??? I really wanted that Mickey Mouse phone, but it never happened - not that I had anyone to call back then anyway, being 11 years old...

It's not NICE to fool Mother Nature:

If you think it's butter but it's not, it's Chiffon.

Misc. Remembrance:

Back in the day, when we'd visit my grandparents in Chatham Massachusetts, there was always one night that we'd go and get ice cream at the local Dairy Queen, then they'd take us kids to the trampolines in Harwich. I believe it was in the summer of '76 when my cousin Dee Dee and I were there. I was in line before Dee Dee so I got to go first while she had to wait for an available trampoline. I was jumping on the trampoline next to the one with the arrow, and the guy on that trampoline with the arrow was a guy in his 20s with a long ponytail and a beard, and he was doing flips (I think he was pretty stoned). Back then there was no blue cover padding the edges and the springs were exposed. He did one final flip and mis-judged his landing, and landed face first on the springs and the concrete edging and got knocked out. They had to take him away in an ambulance. He got hurt pretty bad, he probably broke his nose and fractured his face. He bled so much that most of the trampoline was soaked in blood. After they took him away, the attendants just sprinkled some powder on it, and since that was the next available trampoline my cousin Dee Dee had to use it. Sucked to be her.

Being a mom can be a thankless job. Just ask mine.

In the mid '70s, just after mom and dad split up, mom took myself and a friend of mine for the weekend to my grandparents' house in Chatham Massachusetts. At the end of their road was a cove, and mom took us there so my friend and I could fly our Gayla kites. My kite landed in a clump of weeds (exactly like those pictured above), so mom went into the weeds to retrieve my kite. But what none of us realized was that clump of weeds (exactly like those pictured above) just happened to be poison ivy. She was covered in rashes and she had to spend the rest of the weekend soaking in a tub of calomine (sp?) lotion, while my friend and I enjoyed the remainder of our stay. Yes, we had a great weekend - just too bad that mom couldn't enjoy it with us. I don't even think I thanked her for getting my kite. I was such a rotten son..

Fact:

Even at the height of its popularity, polyester was never tolerated in our home.

Question:

So did any of your mothers walk around the house dressed like this?? Dad probably wished mom would, but it's not like that was ever going to happen..

Totally random find. I swear...

Question: Did anyone out there see the above? Another Question: Was it really as tasteless and bad as it looks??

Random:

In the earlier part of the decade, my grandmother had pictures similar to the above in her guest room. I always found them to be mildly disturbing in some vague sort of way that I couldn't put my finger on; maybe because they all seem so, I don't know, evil, perhaps...

I can't decide:

I'm not sure what was worse: not winning a car on a '70s game show, or winning a car on a '70s game show.

Misc. Remembrance:

In the latter part of the decade, everyone was saying how great eggs and beer was for your hair. So, in the summer of '78 (could've been '79), I was home alone and had nothing to do. I got an egg and a beer out of the fridge, mixed them together and washed my hair with it. While everybody said how great it was for your hair, nobody ever mentioned how disgusting it was. It was nasty. I almost gagged. The smell was beyond foul. I never did it again..

Let's Eat Out:

Apparantly, in 1965, McDonald's published the above book: "Let's Eat Out". I had no idea of its existance until yesterday, when I was doing an image search for old McDonald's ads. I've searched for McDonald's ads for years and never found the above untiI last night, and all of a sudden there were hundreds of pics. I love the artwork. I remember when eating at McDonald's was a novelty, and it was really cheap as well. You could by a hamburger fries and a coke for under a buck.

Just my opinion ...

... but I wasn't really crazy about Cher's look back in '76.

1973:

I remember most of these. I had a few (Koduck, Neveready and Bustedfinger). While I wasn't a huge fan of Wacky Packs, I did buy them once in a while. Never bought enough to finish the puzzles, though...