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 playerAshtraysPoster of Bo DerekFrisbee
― 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
― 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
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp2ldxIWc54
― The Soundtrack of Burl Ives (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 31 December 2019 05:30 (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
In every 70s US home, Canadian dept: contempra phone https://www.google.com/amp/s/ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/remembering-an-iconic-ottawa-creation-50-years-later/amp
― Hongro Hongro Hippies (Myonga Vön Bontee), Tuesday, 31 December 2019 18:04 (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 otmI wasn’t born until the 80s but my parents boughtnearly 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
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObdEUA2rwGg
― Erdős-szám 69 (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 26 September 2020 14:53 (three years ago) link
"come to think of it many of the clothes on our backs were a toxic, flammable, and choking hazard all rolled into one" I just remembered I used to have pajamas that were 100% polyester and used to get static so bad it was like seeing lightning under the covers.
― akm, Saturday, 26 September 2020 17:08 (three years ago) link
In every 70s Chinese restaurant ever: the pu-pu platter.
― Working in the POLL Mine (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 15 May 2021 23:26 (two years ago) link
Pu-pu platters originated in tiki restaurants and then Chinese restaurants adopted them. I don't think I've ever had one, but they sound decadently appealing. Spare ribs, crab rangoon... most people shy away from eating such things today. But perhaps the pu-pu platter could make a comeback in post-covid times when people don't give as much as af.
― Josefa, Sunday, 16 May 2021 04:03 (two years ago) link
*of af
― Josefa, Sunday, 16 May 2021 04:04 (two years ago) link
S&H Green Stamps
― Hideous Lump, Sunday, 16 May 2021 14:37 (two years ago) link
Tiki drinks have been making a comeback among cocktailians. Maybe tiki cuisine might make a post-covid comeback, when occupancy limits are back to normal and restaurants want to lure people away from delivery or home cooking?
― Infanta Terrible (j.lu), Sunday, 16 May 2021 23:15 (two years ago) link
Seems like a lot of this stuff may appear in ILX's new favorite TV series, FOR ALL MANKIND.
― Planck Generation (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 9 July 2021 16:11 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPwxmrNVKKE
This is a huge chunk of my childhood here
― weregoats of boston (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, 13 November 2021 00:07 (two years ago) link
Omg. It looks like every single cast member of ‘Dynasty’ also appeared on ‘Love Boat,’ right down to the Carringtons’ butler. That video would be a good cultural reference for young people of today, like say if they were studying Late 20th Century Show Biz.
― Josefa, Saturday, 13 November 2021 00:32 (two years ago) link
OK, deep dive time.
I was going through the list to see exactly what we had in our house. We built it in 1969; I was age 8 to 18 in the '70s.
What we had, with annotations:
(cheap) wood-paneled rec roomshag carpeting - Blue & green in my bedroom, pure white in my sister'sA pool,or bumper pool, table as well as an air hockey table - Pool & air. Finished basement, drop ceiling, one wall taken up by a giant photo blow up of sunset through trees.Supersized brick hearth - Brick fireplace taking up 2/3 of a wall, slate hearth, enormous rough-cut wooden mantel, built in log bin. Every few years we'd rent the Powerful Paul hydraulic log splitter to turn a fallen tree into firewoodPrice, Stern, Sloan parody books like Uses for a Dead Cat - Definitely had 101 Uses for a Dead Cat, also Mad Libs and Droodles. Related: "Earl the Dead Cat" flat stuffed cat with tire treads printed on its backBeach Boys Endless Summer - Sistera coffee table made from a cable spool - Not a coffee table--we drilled holes in it and used it as a pool cue standa rotary-dial phone with an extra-long cord (so you can take it somewhere private) - Stretched down the hall and under the bathroom doorerica jong fear of flying - Stole it from a drug store. The concept of the 'zipless fuck' was very formative in my non-existent sex life. (First paperback gay sex: Samuel R. Delany's "Dahlgren"--page 444, if I remember correctly)shogun/the thorn birds/all other novels later turned into richard chamberlain miniseries - "Thorn Birds" and several other Colleen McCullough novelsthin brick/faux brick wall - Painted white, surrounding the built-in avocado-colored ovenstained glass chandelier - Faux stained glass Coca-Cola swag-chain lamp in my bedroom (actually white plastic with the stained glass portion painted on the outside of the shade)Ferns - And snake plantsRice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat - Also: Spam, Shake 'n' Bake pork chopsCrock PotFondue setThe Book of Lists - I had a lot of trivia books. In particular, I remember one called "Felton & Fowler's Best, Worst and Most Unusual," bought from the mail order remainder book and record catalog Publisher's Central Bureau.A lazy susan, or possibly severalPeople's Almanac / People's Chronology also big in those yearsMassive console TV that takes no fewer than four people to move, so fuck it, let's just leave it there for the next seven years. - Heavy not just because of the console--this was a pre-transistor cathode ray TV run on vacuum tubes. The heat from all those tubes made the top of the console prime real estate for the cats.Encyclopedias - Funk & Wagnall's Encyclopedia, sold through local grocery stores. A couple of volumes released each month, so it took a year to get the whole set.beanbag chair - Sister's roomthe poster from the inside of "dark side of the moon" - My room. Also posters of the Andromeda Galaxy, the Pleiades, the Triffid Nebula, Earthrise over the lunar horizon, and the classic Buzz Aldrin pic.Wood-grain speakers - Was there any other kind?pongAnother bar accoutrement: wave form light thingy that is basically two dimensional analog of a lava lamp - Not sure if it's the same thing--we had a light-up beer sign that looked like a flowing waterfall. Our finished basement was full of vintage electric (but not neon) bar signs that did stuff: rotating Schlitz globe, Black & White Scotch barking scotty dog heads (https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/jn4HuXPQveQX_VxmtaX1iDPcoxg=/250x0/worthopedia/images/images1/1/0516/14/1_9dc922af56d4944cc081c00e9803c6de.jpg), 2-foot tall crow with top hat and cane that would blink "Old Crow" on his chest, Fresca Blizzard sign with hidden fan blowing fake snow around (https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/tQ75wIZRzWQfYukxx9pDmdrG6a4=/250x0/worthopedia/images/images4/1/0508/27/1_5dfa368db21d326777037034b0e50148.jpg)YahtzeeSears catalog - Reprint of 1920's Sears catalog for bathroom readingErma Bombeck books - Also bathroom readingcrocheted afghan blanket (squares pattern) - Zig-zag pattern in browns, blacks and orangesmany items featuring Peanuts characters for no particular reason - A dirty old Snoopy stuffed animal I slept with for years, and an Astronaut Snoopy doll. Also a few dozen Peanuts bookspartially completed rug hookingNoxzemaGuinness Book of World Recordswallpaper - Always with patterns that were a little too big--they looked smaller on the swatches. Also, sponge painted walls. Mom always had some decoration project going.Yellow Pages - Unavoidable--they just showed up on your doorstep every yearPeter Frampton Comes Alive - SisterChemistry set - Me. Also a rock tumblerSea MonkeysThe Game Of Life(in warm regions) jalousie windows - On the back porch that my father closed intang - At Grandma's housejelloJonathan Livingston Seagull was popular in the early 70s but even as a kid it seemed banal to mecatholic homes had ‘good news for modern man’ - Episcopalian too--everybody got a copy in Sunday Schoolliving room furniture with gold/green/brown/orange color scheme.bronze/gold table lamps with a bulbous shape and large lampshade - Two of which are in my apartment to this dayAn ashtray the size of a dinner plateQuisp AND Quake - My sister voted for Quisp. I voted for Quake, a musclar superhero in a miner's helmet. Just another hint that I might be a little gay lad?Jaws paperbackSpirographLite-BriteTV Magic CardsSimonspeaking of TV, All In the Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show - The Saturday CBS prime time lineup was the original Must-See TVHealth-tex, which still exists but w/o the hyphenZodiac 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. - Zodiac outdoor tablecloth, currently in Mom's car trunk as a drop cloth when we haul hedge trimmings to the dumpmacrame owl! - Maybe not macrame, but multiple owl items including wallpapermodern Danish furniture - I inherited Mom & Dad's old Danish Modern bedroom set when I moved out, and I'm still using itVelvet dayglo painting of a panther that looks awesome under blacklight - No, but we had a Fritz Rudolph Hug painting of a tiger in the living room, along with a couple of landscapes bought at one of those suburban 'art shows' which showed up in local hotel ballrooms every few months.S&H Green Stamps
― Hideous Lump, Sunday, 14 November 2021 23:03 (two years ago) link
wow, excellent reportage. very valuable to realize that a house ticking off dozens of these boxes is by no means just a retro fantasy.
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Monday, 15 November 2021 03:01 (two years ago) link
lol, we had about 75% of those things minus the stuff that older siblings might have contributed. my parents definitely didn't have a dark side of the moon poster.
― that's not my post, Monday, 15 November 2021 03:29 (two years ago) link
i was a several years younger than HL and oldest child
― that's not my post, Monday, 15 November 2021 03:30 (two years ago) link
Excellent roundup there, HL, thanks.
― Exploding Plastic Bertrand (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 15 November 2021 03:56 (two years ago) link
One copy each of _I Sing the Body Electric_ and _The Invisible Man_.
― Exploding Plastic Bertrand (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 15 November 2021 04:17 (two years ago) link
Clackersping pong tablebackgammon setpaint by numbers paintingsGalliano in that tall bottleReader's Digest Condensed Books
― bulb after bulb, Monday, 15 November 2021 05:17 (two years ago) link
My 6th (?) grade teacher had us write sequels to one of the stories in The Illustrated Man. I did a sequel to the wraparound story, with the narrator escaping, only to find himself jumping into the stories.
The teacher liked it so much she sent it to Ray Bradbury, and I got a personally typed letter from him. (I know it was personally typed because a secretary wouldn't have let it go out with so many typos.)
― Hideous Lump, Monday, 15 November 2021 07:05 (two years ago) link
that is incredibly cool
― assert (matttkkkk), Monday, 15 November 2021 08:03 (two years ago) link
Wow
― Exploding Plastic Bertrand (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 15 November 2021 11:41 (two years ago) link
damn, that's cool!
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Monday, 15 November 2021 11:45 (two years ago) link
Encyclopedias - Funk & Wagnall's Encyclopedia, sold through local grocery stores. A couple of volumes released each month, so it took a year to get the whole set.
We had Pears 'Cyclopedia. Not sure if that's a uk thing tho.
― Chicks and Ducks and Geese better scurry (Ste), Monday, 15 November 2021 13:16 (two years ago) link
F&Ws seconded.
― Exploding Plastic Bertrand (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 15 November 2021 18:00 (two years ago) link
speaking of TV, All In the Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show - The Saturday CBS prime time lineup was the original Must-See TV
― Exploding Plastic Bertrand (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 15 November 2021 18:13 (two years ago) link