Growing Up In The 60's And 70's

[George Broderick, Jr.]

For those of us just a bit more "ripened", here's a thread NOT dedicated to childhood/adolescence in the 80's (we do exist, you know)... if you spent your childhood or teenage years in either of these fine decades, let's talk it up..!

I grew up in the 60's and spent most of my teenage years in the early 70's (class of '75)... here are a few of the things I remember firsthand:

Sitting in class in First Grade when out teacher came in and told us President Kennedy had been shot. I was a little too young to understand it all, but I knew all the adults were sad and I suddenly had three days off school... but there was nothing on TV but one parade that had only one horse drawn cart and no balloons or floats.

The James Bond/Man From U.N.C.L.E. craze

Batmania in the summer of '66

Seeing Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (62), Rudolph (64), Frosty (69), A Charlie Brown Christmas (64) and The Grinch (66) when they premiered for the first time

Watching The Elvis Comeback Special in 1968

Watching the first moon landing at Summer Camp in 1969

Being afraid of race riots in 1968 when Martin Luther King was shot (thankfully, those didn't happen... apparently lots of people actually listened to what the man said)

So, all you pre-1980's Boomers... what do you remember..?

[Snow-in-Texas]

I don't remember JFK being shot, I was only 2. I do remember RFK being shot and George Wallace being shot. I remember Nixon leaving, and Ford coming in. That following election, my dad was one of the few that voted for Ford. I remember the "final" POWs coming home from Vietnam. I remember when we got our first color tv, it was a RCA XL 100, state of the art man! I remember Bob Barker's show before The Price is Right, it was Truth or Consequences, don't really remember what they did on that show though.

[Christmas-A-Holic]

I remember an afternoon show getting interrupted on August 16, 1977 with the news that Elvis Presley died. I was 10 years old.

I live very close to the scene where Kennedy was killed. Anytime you pass that area you still see people standing in that very spot he was shot and pointing to the 6th floor window as if they are still trying to solve it. Most my life I never gave it much thought when I passed by there but now I look and it's amazing what goes on there and how busy it is with tourist.

[joyful]

Well when the 1960's started I have a few more years before I was a teen.

But I remember finally getting cable tv in our home in the mid 1960's. I was so excited.

I remember going to the movies on Saturday afternoon to see an Elvis movie.

I remember Saturday morning tv line up. We had great things to watch on Saturday morning. And every network devoted Saturday morning to children programming.

I remember our first color tv and there were only two regular programs in color, "The Wonderful World of Disney" and "Bonanza". Of course some specials were in color and some movies.

I remember evening tv programming was family. No fowl langage. Also, I remember the great variety shows that are no longer on tv.

I remember where I was when we heard the news Kennedy was shot. I remember the next few days with nothing on tv but Kennedy events and how the entire nation was in mourning. I was so sad thinking about his kids and his wife.

I remember when Bobby Kennedy was shot. I remember the D.C. riots.

And I remember ending the 1960's with the men landing on the moon.

[RadioJonD]

My teenage years are solidly in the Seventies, my childhood and preteens in the Sixties. I’m reminded again why “Radio” is a part of my screen name here and several other places.

http://www.mymerrychristmas.com/forum/blog.php?b=140

[Christmas-A-Holic]

I remember Saturday morning tv line up. We had great things to watch on Saturday morning. And every network devoted Saturday morning to children programming.


Oh ya, I remember from the 70's, Saturday morning cartoons! Then when my kids came around, late 80's early 90's, they wanted to do something on a Saturday morning and I suggested to watch, Saturday morning cartoons. They said, "What is Saturday morning cartoons"???? I died laughing but they were serious. I forgot but we have cable and they are able to watch cartoons 24/7 and when I was a kid, Saturday was the only day that had cartoons on for 5 or 6 hours straight! :lol: The rest of the week only a couple of hours a day of cartoons.

[rodmonster]

I was a kid in the 70s and love them as well..not as much as the 80s mind you - but do love them!
I remember a good bit from the entertainment world and being so excited to get my star wars figures - etc. Was really into a wide range of tunes too...from disco to rock and all in between. From Bread and the Carpenters to Zeppelin and Sabbath......
I also remember vividly when Elvis passed away ( I was living in Memphis at the time too - so you can imagine).

I am really enjoying this thread!
Keep the groovy posts rolling!

[Snow-in-Texas]

I remember some of my favorite shows, like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, M*A*S*H, The Carol Burnett Show. I love the music from the 60s and 70s, like Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Rush, Black Sabbath, Moody Blues, Emerson Lake and Palmer. But I was one that wanted disco to die, I hated it with a passion.

[George Broderick, Jr.]

And don't forget... Sesame Street started in 1969 and prior to that, Captain Kangaroo was THE MAN! Mr. Moose, Bunny Rabbit, Mr. Greenjeans, Dancing Bear, Grandfather Clock and the great Tom Terrific and Lariat Sam cartoons..!

Other "classics" that came out of the 60's:

Space Ghost
Scooby Doo
The Herculoids

Kid's programming ruled! cheesy

[Christmas-A-Holic]

And don't forget... Sesame Street started in 1969 and prior to that, Captain Kangaroo was THE MAN! Mr. Moose, Bunny Rabbit, Mr. Greenjeans, Dancing Bear, Grandfather Clock and the great Tom Terrific and Lariat Sam cartoons..!

Other "classics" that came out of the 60's:

Space Ghost
Scooby Doo
The Herculoids

Kid's programming ruled! cheesy

How could I forget Sesame Street?!?! That was my very favorite show when I was a kid. I still miss Mr. Hooper! :-(

[RadioJonD]

Captain Kangaroo was THE MAN! Mr. Moose, Bunny Rabbit, Mr. Greenjeans, Dancing Bear, Grandfather Clock and the great Tom Terrific and Lariat Sam cartoons..!Get it while it’s still available! - http://childrensrecordsandmore.blogspot.com/2007/12/captain-kangaroos-merry-merry-merry.html

[singingringingtree]

I remember an afternoon show getting interrupted on August 16, 1977 with the news that Elvis Presley died. I was 10 years old.

I was in bed at night listening to the pirate radio station Radio Luxemburg under the covers when the news came through. I remember the DJ crying and they played Elvis records all night.

:snowball:

[RadioJonD]

"For all that's worthwhile, your radio dial is on Radio Luxembourg."

<I grew up with a shortwave radio connected to a long wire antenna stretched across the length of the house! Still have that shortwave radio (plus two more) and the antenna is still up.>

[Sabine]

I was born at the end of the 60&#180;s...
Remember the Sesame Street, with "Big Bird" and "Little Bird"..
We just had 3 TV Stations.
We have had 2 German Countries.
And still think about Jimmy Carter when I eat Peanuts.
Germany had be big Terror Time when the RAF kidnapped and killed some Men.. And I remember when my Parents told me that my Grandfather was an US Soldier..
I remember when in our Apartment they changed from Coal-Oven to Central Heater

[Christmas-A-Holic]

I was born at the end of the 60´s...
Remember the Sesame Street, with "Big Bird" and "Little Bird"..
We just had 3 TV Stations.
We have had 2 German Countries.
And still think about Jimmy Carter when I eat Peanuts.
Germany had be big Terror Time when the RAF kidnapped and killed some Men.. And I remember when my Parents told me that my Grandfather was an US Soldier..
I remember when in our Apartment they changed from Coal-Oven to Central Heater

Oh ya, I remember having limited tv stations in the 70's. I think we only had 7 and television stations use to actually sign off at midnight! The national anthem would play before it did. Only on Saturday nights, one tv station would play movies all night.

[Snow-in-Texas]

Remember having to actually have to go to the theatre to see a movie. And if you didn't it, was like a 2 or 4 year wait before it would be shown on TV. No VCRs or DVD players.

[Christmas-A-Holic]

Remember having to actually have to go to the theatre to see a movie. And if you didn't it, was like a 2 or 4 year wait before it would be shown on TV. No VCRs or DVD players.

This was the biggest drag of not having a VCR or DVD players in those days. We were only able to see, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and more only ONCE A YEAR! My kids freaked out when I told them that. They would ask, "you had no way at all to watch those shows more than once"? Oh no, we had to make sure we were in front of the tv on time to watch it and you didn't get another chance. :-?

That is probably why, as an adult, I play them so much and watch them over and over. We didn't have that privilege when we were kids.

[George Broderick, Jr.]

When my daughter was young, I was telling her one of those "in my day..." stories about not having VCR's in the 60's and 70's and her eyes got wide and she asked "then, what did you watch your tapes on..?"

Ah, youth..!

[ScottCalvin]

When my daughter was young, I was telling her one of those "in my day..." stories about not having VCR's in the 60's and 70's and her eyes got wide and she asked "then, what did you watch your tapes on..?"

Ah, youth..!

:grin:

[Christmasstar]

For those of us just a bit more "ripened", here's a thread NOT dedicated to childhood/adolescence in the 80's (we do exist, you know)... if you spent your childhood or teenage years in either of these fine decades, let's talk it up..!

I grew up in the 60's and spent most of my teenage years in the early 70's (class of '75)... here are a few of the things I remember firsthand:

Sitting in class in First Grade when out teacher came in and told us President Kennedy had been shot. I was a little too young to understand it all, but I knew all the adults were sad and I suddenly had three days off school... but there was nothing on TV but one parade that had only one horse drawn cart and no balloons or floats.

The James Bond/Man From U.N.C.L.E. craze

Batmania in the summer of '66

Seeing Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (62), Rudolph (64), Frosty (69), A Charlie Brown Christmas (64) and The Grinch (66) when they premiered for the first time

Watching The Elvis Comeback Special in 1968

Watching the first moon landing at Summer Camp in 1969

Being afraid of race riots in 1968 when Martin Luther King was shot (thankfully, those didn't happen... apparently lots of people actually listened to what the man said)

So, all you pre-1980's Boomers... what do you remember..?
Ok, this is just like, well everything I remember....scary thing is, I am also from the class of 75'.

[George Broderick, Jr.]

I also remember Byron MacGregor's 45 record of Gordon Sinclair's "The Americans" being a top 40 hit here in the States because we, Americans, were being more and more made to feel bad about ourselves due to an Administration (Jimmy Carter) who constantly talked us down, told us what bad shape we were in and apologized to the rest of the world for everything we did...

34 years later and not much has changed... where are these guys now..?

[Snow-in-Texas]

I also remember Byron MacGregor's 45 record of Gordon Sinclair's "The Americans" being a top 40 hit here in the States because we, Americans, were being more and more made to feel bad about ourselves due to an Administration (Jimmy Carter) who constantly talked us down, told us what bad shape we were in and apologized to the rest of the world for everything we did...

34 years later and not much has changed... where are these guys now..?

I always said that Jimmy Carter was the biggest waste of 4 years in office in history. He has done more after than he did in office.

[p.a.]

I remember sitting in front of a snowy tv hoping to catch a glimpse of bugs bunny!!! we could hear him but it was pretty hard to see it ..no cable just rabbit ears! (haha no pun intended)
I also remember the best christmas when I got the original Barbie van..omg I wish I still had it!! it was amazing@@@@@ pop out tent in
the back, little lawnchairs, sooo cool!!

[George Broderick, Jr.]

And don't forget the Click Clack fad..! How many of us had them? How many of us had a friend who had them? How many knew someone who showed up at school at least once with a bandaged wrist from bruising caused by trying to use them..? They eventually were banned, much like lawn darts...

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:cRA7TYWm1PcaDM:http://tommcmahon.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/clickclack.jpg (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://tommcmahon.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/clickclack.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.tommcmahon.net/2005/07/click_clacks.html&usg=__hb1QB5jvdffYJVcaV4awwlj4RO4=&h=284&w=160&sz=9&hl=en&start=4&sig2=j2TgcgRDObODea73wbHRVQ&um=1&tbnid=cRA7TYWm1PcaDM:&tbnh=114&tbnw=64&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dclick%2Bclacks%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4G GLL_enUS334US334%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&ei=xeXuSre6NMXIlAeR-Oj_BA)

[p.a.]

ohhhhhhhhh I loved my click clacks!! and they were the ones with the strings on them...now you can buy them but they are made with plastic braces on them.

[Christmas-A-Holic]

And don't forget the Click Clack fad..! How many of us had them? How many of us had a friend who had them? How many knew someone who showed up at school at least once with a bandaged wrist from bruising caused by trying to use them..? They eventually were banned, much like lawn darts...

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:cRA7TYWm1PcaDM:http://tommcmahon.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/clickclack.jpg (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://tommcmahon.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/clickclack.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.tommcmahon.net/2005/07/click_clacks.html&usg=__hb1QB5jvdffYJVcaV4awwlj4RO4=&h=284&w=160&sz=9&hl=en&start=4&sig2=j2TgcgRDObODea73wbHRVQ&um=1&tbnid=cRA7TYWm1PcaDM:&tbnh=114&tbnw=64&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dclick%2Bclacks%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4G GLL_enUS334US334%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&ei=xeXuSre6NMXIlAeR-Oj_BA)
I remember those. I think my brother had that. I never knew they were banned.

[rodmonster]

yeah the tool (although designed a bit more sturdy - etc) was actually an old form of a weapon from Asia hundreds of years ago.

[Snow-in-Texas]

Did any of you have Major Matt Mason? My brother and I had it, along with a space station. Here are some pics I found online.

Of course we had GI Joe, but I actually liked Major Matt Mason more. He was made of rubber and had wire inside so he was easy to pose and more durable than GI Joe.

http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy124/irondragon61/MajorMattMason.jpg

http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy124/irondragon61/space_station_ad.jpg

[George Broderick, Jr.]

I remember the cool ads in the comic books of that era and I remember playing with my friend's Major Matt... but I never had one myself... I do recall that they were about half the size of G.I. Joe and Johnnie West dolls...

[AuntieMistletoeDear]

[QUOTE=Christmas-A-Holic;180494]I remember an afternoon show getting interrupted on August 16, 1977 with the news that Elvis Presley died. I was 10 years old.
QUOTE]

I was older, but not drinking age, when my Great Aunt phoned, she was in tears. She told me to hurry over because her sweetheart had died. I thought she meant her husband. I rushed over (four blocks) to see him sitting in his usual spot on the sofa watching the TV and mumbling to himself.

I said, "who died? Uncle Pat's right there!" She said, "Elvis. Elvis died" and burst into uncontrollable sobs. She told me to fix myself a drink if I wanted one because it was a sad ocassion, but I didn't. I fixed her one though.

I had two albums and watched a few movies, but she was his fan.

[AuntieMistletoeDear]

For those of us just a bit more "ripened", here's a thread NOT dedicated to childhood/adolescence in the 80's (we do exist, you know)... if you spent your childhood or teenage years in either of these fine decades, let's talk it up..!

I grew up in the 60's and spent most of my teenage years in the early 70's (class of '75)... here are a few of the things I remember firsthand:

Seeing Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (62), Rudolph (64), Frosty (69), A Charlie Brown Christmas (64) and The Grinch (66) when they premiered for the first time

Watching The Elvis Comeback Special in 1968

Watching the first moon landing at Summer Camp in 1969

Being afraid of race riots in 1968 when Martin Luther King was shot (thankfully, those didn't happen... apparently lots of people actually listened to what the man said)

So, all you pre-1980's Boomers... what do you remember..?


I saw the same Christmas specials, but can't remember for sure if they were being aired for the first time. I know Mr. Magoo was a repeat.

Saw a few Elvis concerts, but think the comeback special I saw was shortly before he died.

I remember my dad popping champagne when they landed and the cat chasing the cork down into the basement. I remember a lunar mission in Nov. of the same year, that's when my dog had her seven pups.

When MLK was shot, they were re-airing his "I have a dream" speech and I chimed in with "I had a dream" and my parents quickly hushed me because if I started sharing a dream it would've taken awhile to finish.

[AuntieMistletoeDear]

"For all that's worthwhile, your radio dial is on Radio Luxembourg."

<I grew up with a shortwave radio connected to a long wire antenna stretched across the length of the house! Still have that shortwave radio (plus two more) and the antenna is still up.>

Not at all in the same league, but I remember a Radio Shack dog radio that I had that picked up stations all the way to Chicago, picked up a few truckers on their CB's too.

We travelled quite a bit and the radio in the car was always on. We'd bring the 8-track with us, but before that there was just the car radio and the music was as varied as the DJ's playing them. Sure there were many stations playing the "one hit wonders" and "chart toppers", but it didn't seem pre-programmed and now and then we'd hear something new and different.

I used to listen to the billboard countdown on New Year's Day sprawled out on the floor in front of the old Console TV/Stereo to listen.

[AuntieMistletoeDear]

I remember some of my favorite shows, like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, M*A*S*H, The Carol Burnett Show. I love the music from the 60s and 70s, like Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Rush, Black Sabbath, Moody Blues, Emerson Lake and Palmer. But I was one that wanted disco to die, I hated it with a passion.

One of my brothers became friends with Bob Newhart and Alan Alda, but exchanged more letters and conversations with Bob than Alan.

My mom always reminded us of a blend of Mary Tyler Moore and Liza Minnelli.

We watched MTM when she played Laura Petrie in the Dick Van Dyke Show.

We watched comedies, dramas, musicals, cartoons and children's shows. We only had three channels to choose from in the beginning. We had one black and white tv and one in colour.

I remember on Friday nights I wanted to stay up late like my brothers, but I had to sit through the Tommy Hunter Show first and I always fell asleep during his Bible Stories at the close of the show. I managed to stay up three times, but looking back, I didn't care much for the show, it was staying up late that I was after. The show they were preparing to watch was called The Wild Wild West.

[AuntieMistletoeDear]

And don't forget the Click Clack fad..! How many of us had them? How many of us had a friend who had them? How many knew someone who showed up at school at least once with a bandaged wrist from bruising caused by trying to use them..? They eventually were banned, much like lawn darts...


We had Clackers and they were banned from the school yard because they were too dangerous.

We played alot of board games as a family and had a few things, but I wasn't really into fads as much as my friends were. I had a pogo stick and rollerskates and a slinky and stuff like that.

Just so you all know, I invented VCR's, but never got the credit. No, really it was my idea. I was chatting with a friend of mine about how cool it would be to record my dreams on a machine and play them at the theater and that brought me to talking about how neat it would be to record stuff from the TV if it came on after we had to go to bed.

So, there you have it - about 8 years later VCR's were introduced.

[AuntieMistletoeDear]

I remember the clothes.

Near the end of the Vietnam War, one of my teenage cousins lived with us and she and her friends were Hippies. I remember the muttonshops, and the clothes.

Still enjoy some of the music from those days. Psst. I even listen to the odd bit of Disco usually around my birthday just for the memories.

I also remember the junk food and candy like Wax Lips and Bazzooka Bubble Gum, Pez, Wacko Bars, Sponge Tophy, etc.

I never cared for Pop Rocks.

[caninemom3]

I hate to even admit I am one of THOSE boomers but I am. I remember all of what everyone mentioned. I remember when President Kennedy got shot, not that I understood what was going on. I also remember when Rev. King got shot and also Bobby Kennedy.

I remember wanting to go to Woodstock but I was just a wee bit young for that still. The clothes of course, were a big part of what I remember. At that time, I would have given ANYTHING to have straight long hair instead of the wavy dark auburn stuff I had........

The Viet Nam war was on of the scariest things I remember and also the shootings at Kent State. I live in Ohio and at the time my sister was attneding classes there.

What a crazy time. I must be old, really old because I don't remember it as being quite so tumultuous or violent as today.


:-?

[RadioJonD]

Legendary WMMS 100.7, The Buzzard, in Cleveland, Ohio is giving away all their vinyl! That’s’ right. The whole enchilada! All of it! WMMS’ entire wax collection from years past is up for grabs for one lucky winner.

My genuine imitation beaver top hat with the frayed end from laying on the curb all night after that Christmas caroling extravaganza is solidly slung and firmly planted in the contest ring as should yours be!

All that is required from anyone that should happen to score this stash is to evaluate any Christmas gems for some sharing! Deal? Oh, and first dibs for anything you decide to let go for a price!

Can you just imagine if there are some promotional and transcription items in that collection!?

http://buzzardarmy.wmms.com/asp3/ContestDetail.aspx?AID=87276

Only catch is, you’ll have to sign up for a free WMMS account that allows interaction with the station and site. But, letting this collection fall into the hands of music downloading, sideways hat wearing, baggy pants punk without brain cells or a clue is tantamount to a cardinal vinyl sin. Do your duty! Do it for the children!

If I read correctly, one entry per day is allowed!

< Now, let’s see…Eleven hours to Cleveland from North Alabama…probably have to rent a cargo van…wonder how much a one way plane ticket is to get there?…should I take someone to help load?…where will I put it once home?… >

[rockchild]

I have to ask you folks since you are older than I am (I am 25). I have read and seen videos about Halloween in the past...and it seems like it was SO much bigger than it is today. I only say this because alot less houses decorate, alot less trick or treators etc. I mean they say it STILL is the biggest selling holiday after Christmas. But it always bums me out that it seems that Halloween was bigger when I was a kid and before.

Sometimes I wish I could step into these eras for 10 minutes to see what it was like, just to live it a little bit since things are just so darn different and advanced these days.

[Wenceslaus]

Halloween is much bigger today than in the '70s. There were no Halloween stores. There were maybe two Halloween television specials: Charlie Brown and Fat Albert. The first movie about Halloween didn't come out until 1978. Home haunts were rare. Commercially-made Halloween decorations were cardboard cutouts of witches, black cats and jack-o-lanterns. Commercially-made children's costumes looked really cheap.

[rockchild]

hmmm...maybe because I was a kid I just don't remember. I know there are stores and such now...but the last few years I have noticed there are less trick or treators unless you are near alot of kids. When I was in high school, there were hundreds of teenagers out. Then kids...and now only a dozen or so kids. I guess it just depends on the area.

I was so inspired by this thread that I looked into some vintage Christmas ornaments and I must say...I am tempted to pick up some vintage ones.

Isn't it bizarre how after my generation, the kids/teens today are all growing up with cellphones and facebook. I mean, I didn't have a cellphone until I was working a real job at 18 years old. Myspace was just started out a year or two after that as well. So strange how much technology is impacting the future generations.

[Snow-in-Texas]

I just wonder if you are seeing fewer trick or treaters because people consider it too unsafe these days. Of course I don't know if that is true because I remember as a kid being cautious about our candy. We heard about people poisoning candy and putting razor blades in apples (if that ever really happened). But I think overall alot of people consider it a lot unsafer today than say 30 years ago, is it? I don't know.

[George Broderick, Jr.]

Halloween seems to be more for adults to play dress up than for kids anymore... it's like an entire generation grew up and refused to let go of Halloween as a "kid's holiday"... I think my last Trick Or Treating excursion was Sixth Grade and that was pushing it... lately, though, we've been getting high schoolers coming around on Halloween... and they're tanking it in their best "disaffected teenager manner"... barely managing hockey jerseys and face black or cheap masks as a costume... it's kinda sad, really... give me a five year old dressed as a lion anyday... they REALLY believe they ARE the lion..!

[Minta]

As a child on Halloween my dad would take me all over town. I can remember there were ALOT of kids walking around with parents. Not too many decorations except for the pumpkins and ghosts made out sheets hung up in trees.

We decorate for Halloween but as a child my parents didn't. We do not take our kids around town like our parents took us. We take the kids to see grandparents, aunts, uncles, a few close friends and then one of us will walk them up and down our street for trick or treating while the other parent stays home handing out candy.

We also see alot teenagers that hardly put any effort into their costume however a few years ago we did a teenage boy dressed up as Santa which was cool.

[G.Bailey]

Trick or treating in the 70's in a small Illinois suburb meant filling up a pillow case with candy, then emptying it at home on the bed, and going out to fill it up again. In the dark mind you! With no parents following us! I dont know for certain if this country has gotten less safe or if we've just let some things get away from us...

[rodmonster]

Same here - I was a kid in the 70s and early 80s...so i rem all you stated - ohhh so well....
I will add to it - we went barefoot sometimes - just because we could and we also ate the things people baked and made by hand to hand out....

[George Broderick, Jr.]

No one feared the homemade popcorn ball..! We didn't much like them, but we didn't fear them...

[G.Bailey]

No one feared the homemade popcorn ball..! We didn't much like them, but we didn't fear them...

Great way to sum up the infamous popcorn ball George! I surely never turned away from one. Dont know if there was any goody I ever turned away from, except maybe those root beer or coffee flavored hard candies, I still cant stomach those.

[Faith4always]

I have totally enjoyed readin this thread!!!
I was a child in the 70s.
I remember my folks voting for Ford and so relieved when he won!!
I remember adults talking about the Vietnam war and had a brother in law who had fought in that war.
I remember the hippies...
I remember when Elvis died. I was watching tv in our living room. We didn't have a remote control then. You had to get up and go change the channel yourself. Then, if the turner thingy came off, then you used pliers! hahaha
Do yall remember when everybody was wearing afros? My mom wore an afro. She looked really good too.
I wish I still had the Christmas lights from when I was a kid.
I remember bell bottom jeans and high platform shoes!! I remember my brother having those kind of things.
Remember those lemon twist things? It was a toy your slipped your foot through it and you would swing it around and jump over it? I can't remember what they're exactly called, but I had one!! I loved that thing!!
I had a very loving, secure childhood. I wish I could go back!!

[rodmonster]

Bringing back the memories!

[Retrohal]

http://homepage.mac.com/planetpm/kisschristmas2.jpg

[Anne_Langston]

I'm really enjoying this thread! I was born in August of '58....I don't quite remember JFK being assassinated. I remember my great-grandmother going to California on a prop-jet, and sticking around the airport afterwards to watch planes take off and land. I remember buying Richie Rich, Little Lulu, Caspar and Sad Sack comics off of a spinner rack at the drugstore. My father was a radio die hard, so I remember the last of the classic radio shows and the first TV my parents had (this would have been around 62, I guess). I remember my grandparents getting a color TV, and going to their house every year to watch the Wizard of Oz in color. I remember the Tigers winning the World Series.

Moving ahead, I remember the Bicentennial! I graduated that year, and our class colors were midnight blue and silver, our class flower the American Beauty rose. So the stage was red, white (silver) and blue. The graduation was held at the football stadium, and a man on horseback yelling "the seniors are coming!" circled the stadium before we marched out. Yes, very cheesy! And I remember the big Bicentennial celebrations that summer and my little brothers dressing up in colonial costumes "just because".

I also remember the not-so-great things: the little girls killed in the Birmingham bombing. MLK and Bobby Kennedy being assassinated. All the riots. I remember the Watergate scandal, and watching the hearings on TV (and being very bored--I was a teenager, after all.) Even though I was a young adult by then, I remember Jonestown and the Milk-Moscone murders. (I had moved from the Midwest to the SF Bay Area the year before, so it was a very big deal at the time.) And of course, I remember the Iran hostage crisis.

Sometimes I can't believe it was all that long ago--it seems pretty vivid still!

[MrsEd]

I was about 10 when I remember hearing on the radio that John Lennon had been shot, I didnt really understand why everyone was so quiet- we where at a party! oops this was 1980 sorry.

[Snow-in-Texas]

I was about 7 when I remember hearing on the radio that John Lennon had been shot, I didnt really understand why everyone was so quiet- we where at a party!

I was watching Monday Night Football when Howard Cosell broke into the game and said that John Lennon was shot. I was never a big Beatles fan and wasn't a fan of Lennon's, didn't care for his politics, but it was a very sad day. I am actually a bigger Beatles fan now, thanks to my wife.

[George Broderick, Jr.]

I remember The Beatles first appearance on Ed Sullivan... I didn't see what the big deal was... I also remember all the "bigger kids" going crazy over something called "Sgt. Pepper"... who knew? I was 10...

I was in (I think) seventh grade when we started having class discussions about abortion and euthanasia (as a lead up to Roe v. Wade, I guess) and wondering to myself what little kids in China had to do with killing babies... euthanasia does not mean "youth in Asia"... who knew? I was 12...

CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS... that was it..! Maybe, if you were lucky, a local UHF station...

Godzilla movies on late night Chiller Theatre...

Irwin Allen disaster movies in the 70's and Mel Brooks classics Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein... in theatres, of course... not VHS, DVD or HBO...

[Anne_Langston]

I remember, around 78 I think, going to a friend's house to see this new fangled cable channel that let you see recent movies--something called Home Box Office---I remember an older person saying that he thought it would fold in a year, because you already had to pay for cable, let alone pay extra for this movie channel!!!!

[Snow-in-Texas]

I remember getting our first color TV in 1973 just in time to see the first ever airing of The Ten Commandments on network TV. It was an RCA XL 100, top of the line for it's time. I remember the truck pulling up to deliver it and my mom calling dad at work, and he said to make sure it is in the box, if not it was probably the one they had on display. Mom asked us if it was in the box, we said it was. YAY our first color TV!!!!

My wife and I just recently bought our first flat screen LCD TV, and it was an RCA. Let's just say RCA ain't what they used to be, we took it back the next day and got a Toshiba instead. While watching the RCA, the picture would just go out, we had sound, but no picture. I would turn the TV off and back on and the picture would come back, but after a while it would go out again. They told us at the store that quite a few have been returned for the same thing. We thought, gee it would have been nice to know that before we bought it.

[Maureen]

First fuzzy vague memory I have is of my babysitter glued to the TV when somebody had been shot. It's got to have been either MLK or Robert Kennedy.

Don't remember a whole lot of the moon landing

Saturday mornings consisted of Scooby Doo and Captain Caveman, Shazam, Isis and the Bugaloos

Stickers with happy faces, telling me "I can't believe I ate the WHOLE thing"!

Thinking I was in heaven when we had Kraft Dinner (still do!!)

My dad taking me to see the Ice Capades

After School Specials and Schoolhouse Rock

Zoom

Sunday mornings ice-skating then going to Dunkin Donuts for hot chocolate

K-Tel records and the Ronco Record Selector

Getting the leaflet from school for Scholastic books

Archie, Ritchie Rich, Ripley's Believe it or not

Owning every single Peanuts book

[Snow-in-Texas]

First fuzzy vague memory I have is of my babysitter glued to the TV when somebody had been shot. It's got to have been either MLK or Robert Kennedy.

Don't remember a whole lot of the moon landing

Saturday mornings consisted of Scooby Doo and Captain Caveman, Shazam, Isis and the Bugaloos

Stickers with happy faces, telling me "I can't believe I ate the WHOLE thing"!

Thinking I was in heaven when we had Kraft Dinner (still do!!)

My dad taking me to see the Ice Capades

After School Specials and Schoolhouse Rock

Zoom

Sunday mornings ice-skating then going to Dunkin Donuts for hot chocolate

K-Tel records and the Ronco Record Selector

Getting the leaflet from school for Scholastic books

Archie, Ritchie Rich, Ripley's Believe it or not

Owning every single Peanuts book

I actually used to have some of those K-Tel records. I loved the Peanuts books too!!