In every 70s US home ever

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speaking of TV, All In the Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Dan S, Sunday, 29 December 2019 22:01 (four years ago) link

Lite Brite was another item not allowed in my particular house but yeah

― The Soundtrack of Burl Ives (James Redd and the Blecchs)

Do you come from Amish? What was the objection to Lite-Brite?

Josefa, Sunday, 29 December 2019 22:13 (four years ago) link

No, just Outerborough German-Irish Catholic. Think perhaps somebody was concerned about us swallowing the pieces.

The Soundtrack of Burl Ives (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 29 December 2019 22:15 (four years ago) link

https://www.twincities.com/2010/01/03/w-va-doctor-expert-at-removing-ingested-items/

Before iPods and Playstations, Lite-Brite toys, which include hundreds of small, multi-colored plastic pegs, caused problems.

“Now that we have fancier play toys, we have been seeing less of these,” Nasir said as she pointed toward the Lite-Brite.

The Soundtrack of Burl Ives (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 29 December 2019 22:18 (four years ago) link

we didn’t have a lite brite either. my mom was very resistant when we requested toys with lots of small parts that were going to get lost or scattered!

babu frik fan account (mh), Sunday, 29 December 2019 22:24 (four years ago) link

Speaking of choking hazards, Battlestar Galactica:

http://www.toysyouhad.com/Bstar.htm

The series was a hit, albeit a costly one. Mattel snatched up the rights to a toy line - hoping to match Kenner's Star Wars success. Amazingly, long after the series ended, the toys continued to fly off of the shelves of toy stores everywhere. There were several types of toys released, the most popular and notorious were the missile-launching toys of 1978. Using a similar spring-loaded mechanism of their Shogun Warrior line, Battlestar Galactica's ships fired tiny red missiles that, as it turns out, tend to get launched into the throats of children.

On December 31, 1978 a four year old boy in Atlanta aimed a Colonial Viper toy into his mouth and launched one of the projectile missiles, inadvertently choking himself to death. On January 11, Mattel issued a recall order for the Viper and three other vehicles. It also issued a missile mail-in for those who had had already purchased a missile-firing version of the toys. In exchange for the little red missiles, Mattel provided a Hot Wheels toys, "for the loss in play value." Mattel redesigned the vehicle line to have non-firing missiles.

The boy's death triggered a national outcry to remove projectiles from all toys. On March 23, the boy's parents sued Mattel. The judge presiding over the case singled out Star Wars space toys as the culprit (which upset Lucas very much.) The controversy had an impact on Kenner's Star Wars' toy line, as it delayed the shipment of its Boba Fett dolls. The action figure -- whose character would star in The Empire Strikes Back sequel -- was part of a mailaway offer on the backs of other Star Wars figurines. Although Boba Fett's original design and promotion included a rocket-firing backpack, this mechanism was removed from its design. No rocket-firing Boba Fett's ever rolled off the line, and only a handful of the unpainted prototypes exist.

Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Sunday, 29 December 2019 22:28 (four years ago) link

xp I always wondered if Lite-Brite was a fire risk, but we didn't have one either and I've never actually seen one

Dan S, Sunday, 29 December 2019 22:31 (four years ago) link

“Magnets hold the bowel together, with the layering between them, causing the gut to rupture.”

whoa

Josefa, Sunday, 29 December 2019 22:33 (four years ago) link

nevermind the toys, in the 70s come to think of it many of the clothes on our backs were a toxic, flammable, and choking hazard all rolled into one

never have i been a blue calm sea (collardio gelatinous), Monday, 30 December 2019 00:30 (four years ago) link

also bell bottoms

Dan S, Monday, 30 December 2019 00:32 (four years ago) link

my niece spent the summer in Brazil, she tells me that bell bottoms have made a comeback there

Dan S, Monday, 30 December 2019 00:36 (four years ago) link

Health-tex, which still exists but w/o the hyphen

The Soundtrack of Burl Ives (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 30 December 2019 00:38 (four years ago) link

xxxxpost Simon was created by Ralph Baer, the creator of the Magnavox Odyssey, considered the father of video games and who Nolan Bushnell & Atari ripped off Long from

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 30 December 2019 01:22 (four years ago) link

Always conflated that game with the Alan Arkin movie of the same name and figured he flew to earth in a UFO the same shape as the game console.

The Soundtrack of Burl Ives (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 30 December 2019 01:31 (four years ago) link

my niece spent the summer in Brazil, she tells me that bell bottoms have made a comeback there

High-waisted jeans are already back; the return of bell bottoms feels inevitable.

shared unit of analysis (unperson), Monday, 30 December 2019 02:53 (four years ago) link

We already had the great Jnco scare of the 1990s

Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Monday, 30 December 2019 03:42 (four years ago) link

my niece spent the summer in Brazil, she tells me that bell bottoms have made a comeback there

I'm in Chicago and over the last year have seen bell bottom jeans proliferate, though only on women. (I'm a dude but am in fact wearing bell bottoms at this moment, though admittedly I dress more vintage than your average person. Love how they look with heeled ankle boots!)

blatherskite, Monday, 30 December 2019 23:18 (four years ago) link

do you mean you’re wearing bootcut or full bell bottoms? the latter are definitely more than a little flared

babu frik fan account (mh), Monday, 30 December 2019 23:21 (four years ago) link

"hot naked swimming in gym class" wait what?

akm, Monday, 30 December 2019 23:24 (four years ago) link

do you mean you’re wearing bootcut or full bell bottoms? the latter are definitely more than a little flared

Full on. I used to have bootcut but figured hell, I already dress like I stumbled out of 1969 anyway, might as well commit.

blatherskite, Monday, 30 December 2019 23:36 (four years ago) link

A comment on those pants:

Nice quality. Worked great for a Shaggy costume!

shared unit of analysis (unperson), Monday, 30 December 2019 23:40 (four years ago) link

remember loving bell bottoms, trying to think of something equivalent to them in recent fashion history

Dan S, Monday, 30 December 2019 23:43 (four years ago) link

"hot naked swimming in gym class" wait what?
― akm, Monday, December 30

I was joking about 'hot', but I went from a sheltered catholic grade school to a public high school where our gym teacher made the boys take our swimming classes naked. I was kind of shocked by it at first but got used to it

Dan S, Monday, 30 December 2019 23:44 (four years ago) link

Colored glassware, especially amber or avocado green.

blatherskite, Monday, 30 December 2019 23:52 (four years ago) link

still serve cocktails to friends in Russel Wright forest green pinch tumblers

Dan S, Monday, 30 December 2019 23:57 (four years ago) link

Zodiac posters or wall hangings -- my grandmother had a Capricorn tapestry in the basement. Wouldn't be surprised to see that make a comeback, considering astrology becoming a thing again.

blatherskite, Monday, 30 December 2019 23:57 (four years ago) link

Chess sets: magnetic, Shakespeare-themed, hand-carved, etc.

The Soundtrack of Burl Ives (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 31 December 2019 00:00 (four years ago) link

Black Velvet Art, Elvis or otherwise.

The Soundtrack of Burl Ives (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 31 December 2019 00:01 (four years ago) link

macrame owl!

babu frik fan account (mh), Tuesday, 31 December 2019 00:06 (four years ago) link

our house in the 70s had a lot of stuff from the 50s - modern Danish furniture, Japanese lantern lamps, particle board clothes cabinets in the bedroom my brother and I shared

Dan S, Tuesday, 31 December 2019 00:07 (four years ago) link

Reel-to-reel tape player
Ashtrays
Poster of Bo Derek
Frisbee

that's not my post, Tuesday, 31 December 2019 03:10 (four years ago) link

Velvet dayglo painting of a panther that looks awesome under blacklight = stoner older brother got to decorate his own room.

See also: Skynyrd poster with Confederate Battle Flag

Yeets don't fail me now (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 31 December 2019 03:21 (four years ago) link

a public high school where our gym teacher made the boys take our swimming classes naked

this is absolutely not something that happened in every 70s US school ever

mookieproof, Tuesday, 31 December 2019 03:21 (four years ago) link

Apparently up to 1970 in my school district, boys swam naked.

santa clause four (suzy), Tuesday, 31 December 2019 03:58 (four years ago) link

Reel-to-reel tape player
Ashtrays
Poster of Bo Derek
Frisbee

Poster of Farrah Fawcett

The Soundtrack of Burl Ives (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 31 December 2019 04:19 (four years ago) link

Xpost, the Farah Fawcett poster was ubiquitous.

that's not my post, Tuesday, 31 December 2019 04:51 (four years ago) link

read about Ram Dass's death last week. his Be Here Now was the defining book of the 70s for me

Meh, his Definitely Maybe was better

Yeets don't fail me now (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 31 December 2019 13:32 (four years ago) link

my niece spent the summer in Brazil, she tells me that bell bottoms have made a comeback there

― Dan S

they were back earlier this year at least where i live; it may have passed already though

revenge of the jawn (rushomancy), Tuesday, 31 December 2019 14:39 (four years ago) link

Frisbee

On the roof of every 70s US home ever

Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 31 December 2019 15:00 (four years ago) link

our house in the 70s had a lot of stuff from the 50s - modern Danish furniture, Japanese lantern lamps, particle board clothes cabinets in the bedroom my brother and I shared

― Dan S

This is an important point, that the '70s - like any decade - were still heavily characterized by the immediately preceding decades. When I think of the '70s I remember a lot of stuff of a design reflecting the '60s Laugh-In aesthetic of bright Day-Glo colors, flowers, op-art, funny slogans. Also lots of graphic reproductions of Robert Indiana's "LOVE" sculpture. Stuff like this gradually went out of fashion in the early '70s but it didn't all just suddenly disappear, it remained in people's houses for a while. I also remember in the early-to-mid '70s there will still lots of cars with fins on them parked on the street.

Josefa, Tuesday, 31 December 2019 15:09 (four years ago) link

Josepha speaks truth. People don't suddenly throw out everything they own when there's a new decade.

I happened to see a 1985-ish photograph of a city street the other day and I was like, "why do the cars all look like 1970s cars"? I had completely forgotten that my dad was driving a '77 Mercury at the time.

Yeets don't fail me now (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 31 December 2019 20:46 (four years ago) link

josefa OTM, this is one of my biggest pet peeves in period movies. and one thing I liked about Stranger Things - that the working-class Winona household was less aggressively "80s" in its furnishings

Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 1 January 2020 00:47 (four years ago) link

my friends were really into the Kinks when I was in high school. they were much more socially advanced than I was

Dan S, Wednesday, 1 January 2020 02:52 (four years ago) link

I remember the record player at our house and those at others' houses, and the experience of listening to records with friends

Dan S, Wednesday, 1 January 2020 03:08 (four years ago) link

this is actually why i can relate to this thread - shit, i don't actually _remember_ the '70s, i just know all this stuff from growing up in the early '80s.

revenge of the jawn (rushomancy), Wednesday, 1 January 2020 04:29 (four years ago) link

my goddaughter who is 11 is my sweetie. it is interesting to see how she relates to her world today, it is a world I couldn't imagine in the 70s

Dan S, Wednesday, 1 January 2020 06:22 (four years ago) link

rushomancy otm
I wasn’t born until the 80s but my parents bought
nearly all of their possessions in the 70s and furnished their house after getting married mid-decade

babu frik fan account (mh), Wednesday, 1 January 2020 17:20 (four years ago) link

eight months pass...

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