G.I. Joe (and other stuff)

Back in the early 70's, it's amazing the toys that boys had. G.I. Joe, fake guns, plastic hand-grenades, plastic swords, candy cigarettes, fake joke vomit.... what the hell were our parents THINKING???? I never got into the war stuff, but I liked the candy cigarettes.

1972 Flashback:

Back circa '72, mom was in a bowling league and they bowled every Tuesday night. A friend of mine and me were in the men's room and he said, "Check this out". He took a big wad of toilet paper and stuffed it into the automatic hand dryer, pointed the exhaust upward, and punched the button. The toilet paper flew into the air and floated down gently, and I thought that was SO cool. So we proceeded to deplete the bathroom's supply of toilet paper and had fun shooting the paper into the air. We had a BLAST. Paper was flying EVERYWHERE, and soon the floor was covered with toilet paper, like it had just snowed. You couldn't see the floor, it was covered. We were at it for about five minutes, then a guy walked into the bathroom and the breeze that the door made when it was opened sent the toilet paper on the floor flying everywhere, not to mention the 3 or 4 dryers that were sending new wads into the air. Yes, that's how we amused ourselves. We didn't get in trouble. I guess toilet paper was cheap enough.
You could click on the above pic, but the larger picture is pretty much the same..

Run Yourself Ragged by Tomy

I was given this game Christmas of '79. I could complete the maze in less than 60 seconds. Cousins of mine who were a few years older than me couldn't do it, and was amazed at how fast I was at it. Younger kids are definitely swifter at accomplishing things than older kids, I don't know why. Although I wore this game out, for years I couldn't remember the name of it. Just today I came across one on eBay. I finally did an ebay search entering: Maze game with a steel ball (or something like that). I wonder if I got this game again, could I do it??? I guess I'll never know. Just knowing that I could do it back then is good enough for me (and that my cousins couldn't. Losers).

Kismet

In the early 70's, our family played this game CONSTANTLY. It was basically Yahtzee. This is a pic of the game I purchased on eBay to give to mom this past Christmas.

McDonald's Calendars

Actually, McDonald's started making calendars before 1977. I had one on my wall and it was, I believe, circa 1974. It was a one-page poster sized calendar with drawings similar to Peter Max artwork. To this day I've been looking for the earlier version on eBay, but so far no luck. The early ones are VERY hard to come by.

The Which Witch? Board Game

I got this game when I was 5 in the Christmas of 1972 (I'm taking a stab at the year, but it seems right). I grew up an only child, yet I always got board games for Christmas. I can't remember if I already posted this game on this site or not because it's been so long since I added anything here.
Click on picture for a larger image.

1977 Ad

It's like there's a party in her mouth, and everyone's invited.
Click pic for larger image.

We'll miss you, Lily

Yvonne De Carlo

1922 - 2007

For Jen:

Nobody does it better

Makes me feel sad for the rest

Nobody does it half as good as you

Baby, you're the best.

Ice Skating

As a kid I HATED ice skating. Growing up in New England, our family would occasionally go. I couldn't skate so I had a pair of those double-runner skates, and my feet and face always froze. I don't like outdoor activities in the Winter.
Click on picture for a larger image.

Cereal Box Records

Back in the 70's, some cereal companies issued records on the back of the box that you would cut out. I never found them to play very well as they would slide on the turntable. I didn't think any of these existed anymore.
Click on picture for a larger image.