Feeling Nostalgic For The 70s

Nostalgia for 1970s photo of a Monopoly boardA while back I wrote a post entitled Five Signs You’re Feeling Nostalgic For Your Childhood. It featured Monopoly, candy necklaces and that staple of 70s culture, the mood ring.

Imagine my delight, then, when I happened upon the following post over on Salon entitled The Forgotten Treasures of Gen-X Childhood. It’s a slide show featuring assorted toys and memorabilia that defined my childhood: things like Fisher Price Little People (in case you’d forgotten that there was once was a predecessor to Playmobil)…candy cigarettes…and unsafe playground equipment. (Oh, for those see-saws that just came banging down on your leg!)

I will confess to not recognizing all of it. Maybelline kissing potion didn’t ring a bell. (Though I do have vivid memories of those sickly sweet, giant lip glosses we all hung around our necks with flavors like bubble gum and watermelon and Dr. Pepper…I think they were called  Bonnie Bell Lip Smackers. Anyone?)

And, of course, I remember Love’s Baby Soft Perfume, which also makes a cameo in said post. (“You can try soft: Harry. Or you can try hard: HARRY! Soft will get him every ti-i-ime…Love’s Baby Soft!”) Positively creepy, 35 years on…

So I cordially invite you to take a stroll down memory lane and check out the forgotten treasures of Gen-X Childhood. You won’t regret it.

Then in the comment section, tell me what they’re missing…

Image: Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

 

 

7 Comments
  • Reply sassy

    June 20, 2011, 3:18 pm

    Tiger Beat magazine? I spent way too much of my allowance for several years just to read about the latest crush. And I was totally into the Love’s Lemon scent — to this day, a bright lemon scent that reminds me of that will sell me on almost anything.

  • Reply Howard Baldwin

    June 20, 2011, 10:36 pm

    Delia, when it comes to nostalgia, one of my favorite places is http://www.oldtimecandy.com. I don’t know how they do it, but they sell candy that everyone remembers from their childhood (you can even search by decade). Sorry to say that they don’t ship outside North America.

    • Reply delialloyd

      June 21, 2011, 11:58 am

      @howard-awesome. thx for the tip. someone just tweeted it off of your comment! @MJ-LOVE this list. I, too, was singing that dreadful ditty all day long yesterday. My claim to fame (because we all need one) is that the Dad of one of my grade school mates invented Pop Rocks. Yup, it’s true. Boy did he take that one to the bank…thanks for dropping by!

  • Reply MJ

    June 21, 2011, 12:54 am

    Oh my, what a flashback! You MUST remember Kissing Potion – glass tube, screw off top, rollerball application of shiny goopy stuff that eventually made my lips itch. Thank goodness for lipsmackers – and yes, i remember the one with the string on it. I have to say, I read your article at work and had the Love’s Baby Soft commercial playing in my head for an hour.Somewhere, some ad guy is feeling successful. How about Jean Nate? (and their “feminist” slogan) The Bionic Woman and Charlie’s Angels. Dynamite magazine. (yeah, Sassy! what about Jane, when was that?) The OLD Seventeen. Zoom on PBS. Schoolhouse Rock (available on DVD). Scholastic book orders at school. Laffy Taffy, Lik-M-Aid (packets of powder like koolaid with a little vanilla dipping stick – I think they still sell it!) Bubs Daddy bubble gum sticks, wax lips at Halloween. The exciting introduction of PopRocks (might have been the 80s). Colorforms. Bikes with banana seats, handlebar streamers, flags on the seat and front baskets. Marathon candy bars (now where did I see those recently). Comic books – Richie Rich, Archie, Betty and Veronica, Casper the Ghost, all on a turning rack at the corner family drugstore (where I got the Bubs Daddy).. Weebils. Kickball, superball, skateboards. (I feel like I’m writing a song here!) Pringles. Thomas’ English muffins. Too much fun, I think I need to go look at the nostalgic candy!

  • Reply Patty Walcott

    June 21, 2011, 3:39 pm

    I remember feather earrings and Chinese slippers, Sasoon jeans and Dr. Shoals; all of which have all but disappeared. Dr. Shoals are making a comeback though!

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